Qidreh — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

Lamb, chickpeas, and rice slow-cooked together in a single pot until the rice absorbs all the meaty juices and develops a prized golden crust on the bottom. A Hebron-influenced dish beloved across Jordan.

Ingredients

1 kg lamb shoulder, large cubes
2 cups short-grain rice, rinsed
1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
2 onions, sliced
6 cloves garlic, whole
2 tsp baharat spice blend
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 tbsp ghee or olive oil
4 cups water
Salt and pepper
Toasted almonds for garnish

Instructions

1 Brown lamb pieces in ghee in a heavy pot over high heat until deeply seared on all sides. Remove and set aside.
2 In the same pot, cook sliced onions until golden. Add whole garlic cloves, baharat, turmeric, allspice, and cinnamon, stirring for one minute.
3 Return lamb to the pot. Add soaked chickpeas and water. Bring to a boil, skim foam, cover, and simmer for 1 hour until lamb is tender.
4 Add rinsed rice on top of the lamb and chickpeas. Add more hot water if needed to cover the rice by 2cm. Season with salt.
5 Cover tightly and cook on very low heat for 30 minutes until rice is cooked and has absorbed all the liquid. Do not stir — a golden crust should form on the bottom.
6 Let rest 10 minutes. Invert onto a large platter or serve directly, scraping up the prized crispy rice from the bottom. Top with toasted almonds.

Did You Know?

The crispy rice layer at the bottom of the qidreh pot, called hkaka, is the most fought-over part of the dish — everyone wants the largest piece.