Chicken Machboos (Emirati Spiced Chicken and Rice)

Method

1. Rinse the rice in a bowl of cold water, swirling it with your hand and pouring off the cloudy water; repeat 3 or 4 times until the water is almost clear. Cover with fresh cold water and soak for 20 min while you cook the chicken. Pierce each loomi 2 or 3 times with the tip of a knife so the broth can get inside (it is very hard, so hold it firmly on a board).

2. Heat the oil in a 22 cm heavy pot with a lid over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 9 min, stirring often, until soft and golden brown; well-browned onions give machboos its deep colour and sweetness.

   Add in this stepVegetable oil (or ghee) 2 tbspOnion, thinly sliced 1

   medium heat

3. Turn up to medium-high heat. Add the garlic, ginger and green chilli and stir for 1 min. Add the chicken skin-side down, then the bezar, turmeric, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. Cook for 6 min, turning the pieces, until the chicken is golden in patches and coated in spices; if the spices darken quickly, lower the heat so they don't burn.

   Add in this stepGarlic cloves, crushed 3Fresh ginger, grated 10 gGreen chilli, slit lengthways 1Bone-in chicken thighs and drumsticks, skin on 500 gBezar (Emirati spice mix) or baharat 1½ tspGround turmeric ½ tspCinnamon stick (3 cm piece) 1Green cardamom pods, lightly crushed 3Cloves 2

   medium-high heat

4. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, loomi, salt and water and stir. Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower to medium-low heat, cover and simmer for 32 min, skimming off any foam in the first few minutes. The chicken is done when the juices run clear as you pierce the thickest part next to the bone (75 °C).

   Add in this stepRipe tomatoes, chopped 1½Tomato paste 1 tbspLoomi (dried black lime) 1Salt 1¼ tspWater 700 ml

   high heat→medium-low heat

5. Lift the chicken onto a baking tray. Leave the loomi and whole spices in the pot, keep 280 ml of broth for the rice and pour the rest into a bowl (serve it as a soup on the side). Taste the broth in the pot: it should taste slightly too salty, because the rice will absorb the salt. Bring it to a boil over high heat, add the drained rice and stir once. When it boils again, lower to low heat, cover tightly and cook for 13 min without lifting the lid.

   Add in this stepBasmati rice 150 g

   high heat→low heat

6. Meanwhile, put the chicken under the grill (broiler) of the oven at 230 °C and grill for 7 min, until the skin is crisp and blistered in spots. Watch it closely; it can scorch quickly.

   oven

7. Turn off the heat under the rice and leave it covered for 5 min so the grains firm up. Fluff the rice gently with a fork, pile it onto a large platter, arrange the chicken on top and scatter with the coriander. Remove the loomi before eating if you like, or squeeze it over the rice for extra tang.

   Add in this stepFresh coriander, chopped 8 g