Kabsa Chicken Paella

Method

1. Heat the stock in a saucepan on low heat with the saffron crumbled between your fingers and the dried lime pierced 2–3 times with a knife; keep it hot for 5 min so the saffron turns it deep gold. Meanwhile cut the chicken into 4 cm pieces, finely chop the onion and garlic, dice the pepper, cut the beans into 3 cm lengths and grate the tomato on a box grater, discarding the skin.

   Add in this stepChicken stock 480 mlSaffron threads 1 pinchDried lime (loomi) 1

   low heat

2. Heat the oil in a 28 cm paella pan, or your widest frying pan, on medium-high heat. Season the chicken with part of the salt and brown it for 7 min, turning, until golden on all sides; it finishes cooking in the rice.

   Add in this stepExtra virgin olive oil 3 tbspBoneless chicken thighs 300 gSalt ¼ tsp

   medium-high heat

3. Push the chicken to the edge, turn the heat to medium heat and add the onion, pepper, garlic and green beans to the middle. Cook for 6 min, stirring, until the onion is soft and the pepper starts to colour.

   Add in this stepOnion ½Red bell pepper ½Garlic cloves 2Green beans 60 g

   medium heat

4. Add the grated tomato and the spice mix and cook for 3 min, stirring everything together, until the tomato thickens to a dark, jammy paste and the spices smell toasty.

   Add in this stepRipe tomato 1Kabsa spice mix or baharat 1¼ tsp

5. Scatter the rice evenly over the pan and stir for 1 minute to coat it. Pour in all the hot stock with the dried lime, add the rest of the salt, taste (the liquid should be pleasantly salty) and shake the pan to level the rice. From now on, do not stir. Boil on high heat for 10 min, then turn to medium-low heat and cook for 8 min, until the liquid has disappeared and the rice is just tender. If the pan is larger than your burner, give it a quarter turn every few minutes so it cooks evenly.

   Add in this stepPaella rice (bomba or other short-grain) 140 gSalt ½ tsp

   high heat→medium-low heat

6. For the socarrat, turn the heat to high heat for 1 min 30 sec: you will hear crackling and the smell turns toasty. Stop as soon as you smell any burning. Check by scraping one edge with a spoon: the bottom should be crisp and brown.

   high heat

7. Take the pan off the heat, cover it loosely with a clean towel or foil and rest for 5 min. Scatter over the almonds and parsley and serve straight from the pan with lemon wedges; the soft dried lime can be squeezed over the rice too.

   Add in this stepToasted flaked almonds 15 gParsley, chopped 2 tbspLemon, in wedges ½