Machboos

Ingredients

Bezar spice mix

• 1 tbspground coriander
• 1 tbspground cumin
• 2 tspground turmeric
• 1 tspground cinnamon
• 1 tspground black pepper
• 1 tspground fennel
• ½ tspground cloves
• 1 tspdried loomi powder

Chicken and broth

• 1.6 kgchicken, jointed into 8 pieces, skin on
• 60 gghee
• 3large onions (500 g), finely sliced
• 6garlic cloves, crushed
• 30 gfresh ginger, grated
• 2tomatoes (250 g), grated
• 3dried loomi (black limes), pierced twice each
• 4green cardamom pods
• 1cinnamon stick
• 3dried Iranian limes leaves or 2 bay leaves
• 1 litrewater
• 1 tbspsalt

Rice and garnish

• 600 gbasmati rice, rinsed and soaked 30 minutes
• A pinch of saffron, steeped in 3 tbsp rosewater
• 60 graisins, fried in ghee
• 50 gflaked almonds, toasted
• 1 tbspdried onion crisps

Directions

1. Toast and grind the bezar spices, or mix the ground spices; you want about 4 tbsp of a warm, deep-yellow blend.
2. Melt the ghee in a heavy pot over medium heat and fry the onions 15 minutes until soft and mid-brown, then add the garlic and ginger for 2 minutes until raw smell goes.
3. Stir in 3 tbsp of the bezar and cook 1 minute, add the grated tomato and cook 5 minutes until the mixture darkens and the ghee separates at the edges.
4. Add the chicken pieces and turn them to coat, searing 5 minutes, then add the pierced loomi, cardamom, cinnamon, lime leaves, salt and the water.
5. Simmer covered 35 minutes until the chicken is tender and the broth tastes sour, salty and fragrant. Lift the chicken out and set it aside.
6. Measure the broth: you need 900 ml. Top up with water or reduce as needed, then bring it back to a hard boil in the pot.
7. Drain the rice and stir it in, boil uncovered 5 minutes until the surface liquid has just gone, then scatter over the saffron rosewater and the last spoon of bezar.
8. Bury the chicken in the rice, cover the pot with a cloth and lid and steam on the lowest heat 20 minutes, then rest 10 minutes off the heat before forking through.
9. Mound onto a platter, chicken on top, and scatter with fried raisins, almonds and onion crisps. Serve with daqoos, a hot tomato-chilli sauce.

Technique

• Loomi is the signature. Pierce the dried limes so the sour, slightly fermented flavour leaches into the broth, and take them out before they turn bitter, which happens after about 45 minutes.
• Cooking the rice in the strained chicken broth, not water, is what separates machboos from a plain pilaf.
• Emirati cooks often brown the chicken separately in ghee at the end and lay it on top so the skin stays crisp under the garnish.

Substitutions

• No loomi? Use the zest and juice of 2 limes plus 1 tsp tamarind paste added at the end; it is close but lacks the smoky note.
• Ready-made bezar or a good Gulf kabsa mix works if you cannot source fennel and dried lime powder.

Variations

• Machboos laham, made with lamb shoulder simmered 1.5 hours.
• Machboos rubian, made with prawns added in the last 8 minutes and shrimp-shell broth for the rice.
• Kabsa, the Saudi cousin, less sour and usually without fennel.

History

Spiced rice cooked with meat or fish and a distinctive Gulf spice blend called baharat, closely related to Saudi kabsa and other Gulf rice dishes, reflecting a shared regional Bedouin, pearl-diving and maritime trading heritage across Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates rather than any one country’s isolated invention. Bahrain’s historic role as a major pearl-diving and trading center in the Gulf, with trade links reaching India and East Africa for centuries, is often credited with introducing specific spices, including black lime and cardamom, into the region’s rice cooking well before oil wealth transformed the Gulf economies in the 1900s. Machboos is traditionally served on a large shared platter, reflecting broader Gulf Arab hospitality customs around communal rather than individually portioned meals.

Frequently asked questions

What is Machboos?

Machboos is a main from Bahrain: spiced rice with chicken or fish and dried lime. Spiced rice cooked with meat or fish and a distinctive Gulf spice blend called baharat, closely related to Saudi kabsa and other Gulf rice dishes, reflecting a shared regional Bedouin, pearl-diving and maritime trading heritage across Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates rather than any one country’s isolated invention. Bahrain’s historic role as a major pearl-diving and trading center in the Gulf, with trade links reaching India and East Africa for centuries, is often credited with introducing specific spices, including black lime and cardamom, into the region’s rice cooking well before oil wealth transformed the Gulf economies in the 1900s. Machboos is traditionally served on a large shared platter, reflecting broader Gulf Arab hospitality customs around communal rather than individually portioned meals.

How long does Machboos take to make?

Machboos takes 30 min of preparation and 1 hr 15 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Machboos?

Yes, within limits. No loomi? Use the zest and juice of 2 limes plus 1 tsp tamarind paste added at the end; it is close but lacks the smoky note. Ready-made bezar or a good Gulf kabsa mix works if you cannot source fennel and dried lime powder.