Chicken Machboos (Kabsa) - الدجاج كبسة

Our friends Ryan & Leah are moving to Dubai so we decided to do a leaving do for them. Obviously, the theme had to be Arabic so everyone brought Arabic/Middle Eastern food. I decided to prepare some Arabic dishes for everyone to enjoy. After 5 hours slaving away in Simon's kitchen [I do love cooking so, wasn't really slaving haha] I came up with 4 dishes including Lamb & Beef Koftas with Yogurt dip, Basbousa, [a semolina sweet], some Tabbouleh and the star dish, Chicken Machboos which is also known as Fogga or Kabsa. 

Chicken Machboos is basically Chicken & Rice cooked the Arabic way. It is full of spices (by the way, the dish is not spicy [hot] at all) and hence full of flavour. It went down a treat with everyone. Me being a purist I had to find an authentic Arabic recipe, so I did and I adapted it for a huge portion for our banquet. The original recipe is from the book "The Complete United Arab Emirates Cookbook" by Celia Ann Brock-Al Ansari Copyright © 1994 by Celia Ann Brock-Al Ansari. Obviously, if you are cooking for fewer people feel free to use less chicken and rice. One of the most important ingredients of this dish is the Dried black lime aka Loomi which gives it a musty, citrusy flavour (although it is not that overpowering). 

I buy my dried black limes from SousChef. Another ingredient is the Bezar (or Bzar) which is a traditional Arabic spice mix which is very tasty and fragrant. I make my own and you can too (the recipe is below *) but if you cannot find it or do not own a spice grinder do let me know and I will try and maybe I can ship you some. Just drop us an email on ramandaspicypassion@gmail.com

So for a banquet style serving you will need...

• 1.5 - 2kg chicken pieces (use thighs and drumsticks), skin removed
• 3-4 tablespoons bezar (recipe below *)
• salt to taste 
• About 2 litres chicken stock
• 3 fresh tomatoes, deseeded and chopped 
• 8 cloves garlic
• 4 whole dried black limes (loomi)
• 1 large stick cinnamon 
• 10 green cardamom pods
• 1kg Basmati rice
• Smen, ghee or butter, for frying

To serve

• 3 onions, sliced
• 2-3 tablespoons whole blanched almonds
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Dates & raisins [optional]

*To make Bezar spice mixture: In a shallow frying pan, toast the following until fragrant mixing occasionally; 2 tablespoons cumin seeds, 2 tablespoons fennel seeds, 1 large cinnamon stick (broken into 4 pieces), 2 tablespoons coriander seeds, 1 tablespoon black peppercorns. Leave to cool down and grind into a fine powder in a spice grinder. Transfer into a glass jar; add 1 tablespoon turmeric powder and ½ teaspoon chilli powder. Put the lid on and give it a good shake. Store in a cool dry place.

How to...

• Rub the skinned chicken pieces with salt and bezar. 
• Gently fry in 2 tablespoons of smen, ghee or butter until brown on both sides. 
• Transfer the browned chicken pieces to a large deep pan add the stock, garlic cloves, dried black limes, cinnamon, green cardamom pods and tomatoes. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer on medium heat for about 15 minutes. 
• Taste for salt and add the rice. Bring to a gentle boil again on a low heat (don't stir). Now, cover pan with damp cloth and a heavy lid. Leave to steam on low heat, unopened for 20 minutes, turn off the heat and stand uncovered for about 15 minutes before serving.
• In the meantime, fry the onions in 1 tablespoon smen, ghee or butter until golden brown and soft. Remove the onions and set aside add in the same pan add the almonds and stir fry until they are slightly brown.
• Transfer the chicken and rice onto a large platter. Sprinkle the fried onions and almonds on top and serve. If using add some dates and raisins too!!

Enjoy!!

R&A

Egg Fried Rice with Lap Cheong 腊肠 (Chinese Sausage)

We invented this dish when we were introduced to Lap Cheong aka Chinese sausage by our friends. Chinese sausage is so delicious, so sweet, meaty and juicy...we fell in love with it. Stir-fried rice is quite famous with everyone and is very easy to prepare and indeed, since this dish is a stir-fried rice based dish it is quite easy to prepare. It always makes me laugh whenever I cook this dish as I'll be like, so, some of this some of that and voilà...dinner is served!! I must admit that I could eat as much as I can of this dish and I do find it hard to stop! We prefer to use Basmati or Jasmine rice instead of plain rice as it is more fragrant and adds further flavour to the dish. Also the secret to perfect fried rice is to cook the fried rice into batches. I cook ours in two batches. Use a bowl to measure the amount. We usually do a bowl of cooked rice per person. To serve this dish as main course for 2-4 people you will need...

• 250g uncooked rice (we use Basmati or Jasmine but plain rice will do)
• 500ml boiling water
• 4 Lap Cheong (Chinese sausages)
• Half a leek or 2 spring onions, cleaned and cut into Julienne strips
• 2 small carrots, cut into Julienne strips
• Handful of frozen peas, defrosted
• Handful canned sweetcorn
• 2 eggs
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
• Oyster sauce, to taste
• Dark soy sauce, to taste
• Sesame oil, to taste

How to...

1. Cook the rice either in a rice steamer or on the hob. To cook the perfect rice on the hob, add the rice to a medium sized heavy based pan and add the boiling water. Stir with a fork and bring to a boil. When it boils, lower the heat to low and simmer covered for 10-12 minutes. Do not open the lid. This is called the absorption method. When rice is cooked, wash with cold water, drain and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, steam the sausages for 20 minutes, slice into bite size pieces and set aside. Do not throw away the boiling water used to steam the sausages. Add the leeks and carrots to the boiling water from underneath the sausages and blanch for about 2 minutes. Drain and set aside.
3. Prepare the egg omelettes. Beat one egg and pour it in a hot small non stick frying pan (we use a 6-7 inch pan), turning gently so as to cover the bottom of the pan. Cook for a few minutes and turn over to cook the other side. Remove from the pan, roll into a roll and cut into strips. Repeat with the other egg.  You can do them both in one go if you have a larger pan obviously. 
4. Heat  2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a wok or frying pan until hot. Add 2 sausages (cut into pieces), half of the blanched veg and stir well. Add a bowl of cooked rice, keep stirring frequently or else the rice will stick. Cook for about 3-5 minutes. Add the peas, half a teaspoon of Chinese five spice powder, soy sauce and sesame oil to taste and stir well.Cook for a further 3 minutes. Now add the egg omelette strips, give it one last stir and serve hot maybe with some more soy sauce or sesame oil.
5. Repeat until you use all the rice and ingredients.

Enjoy!!

R&A