1110. Qatari Chicken Machboos

We've seen how fragrant and delicious Qatari desserts can be (remember sago and ageeli?), now it's time to try their equally fragrant, perfumy, and delicious chicken. The medley of spices almost seems random, until you give it a taste and see for yourself the magnificent outcome. Onion and garlic do form the base, but the heaps of dry lemon, saffron, ginger, turmeric, and others make the chicken sing.
To maximize the flavor, the chicken is boiled in these spices to absorb flavor, and release flavor too. While the chicken is fished out and roasting in the oven, rice is cooked in the fragrant chicken broth. The rice and the chicken complete cooking at the same time, and service is ready.

Ingredients: serves 8

3-4 Tbsp oil
6 fine chop onions
2 chicken, quartered
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp powdered dry lemon
1 Tbsp saffron
1 Tbsp coriander powder
1 Tbsp biryani mix
1 Tbsp ginger powder
1 Tbsp turmeric powder
1 Tbsp cardamom powder
1 Tbsp salt
4 chopped tomatoes
1 cup chopped coriander
½ cup tomato paste
3 cups rice

Method:

Saute the finely chopped onions in the hot oil until soft. Add the chicken pieces to the onion with the dry lemon powder, saffron, coriander powder, biryani mix, ginger powder, turmeric powder, cardamom powder, and salt. Saute for 5-10 minutes.
Add the chopped tomatoes, chopped coriander, tomato paste, and stir some more before adding just enough water to cover the chicken. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for 25-30 minutes.
Fish the chicken pieces out of the broth and place on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake at 400F for 30 minutes while making the rice.
To make the rice, add the rinsed rice to the remaining chicken-tomato spice broth. Add water if necessary to just cover the rice by a finger's width. On the other hand, if you have too much broth, remove some to use as a sauce later. Bring to a boil, cover the pot, reduce heat to low, and simmer to 20-25 minutes until rice is tender and fluffy.
To serve, put the fluffed rice on a serving platter and top with the roasted chicken pieces.

صحة و عافية