Kabsa — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

Fragrant long-grain rice cooked with chicken in a rich tomato-based sauce laced with cardamom, cloves, and dried lime. This aromatic one-pot meal is a weekly staple on Yemeni family tables.

Ingredients

1 whole chicken, cut into pieces
3 cups basmati rice, soaked
2 onions, diced
4 tomatoes, pureed
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp kabsa spice mix
2 dried limes (loomi)
3 cardamom pods
2 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
3 tbsp vegetable oil
Salt to taste
Toasted cashews and raisins for garnish

Instructions

1 Brown chicken pieces in oil in a heavy pot until golden on all sides. Remove and set aside.
2 In the same pot, cook onions until golden. Add garlic, kabsa spice mix, cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon, stirring for 1 minute.
3 Add pureed tomatoes and tomato paste. Cook for 5 minutes until the sauce thickens and oil separates.
4 Return chicken to the pot. Add dried limes and enough water to cover. Simmer for 30 minutes until chicken is cooked through.
5 Remove chicken. Add soaked, drained rice to the broth. Cover and cook on low heat for 18-20 minutes until rice is tender and fluffy.
6 Arrange rice on a platter, place chicken on top, and garnish with toasted cashews and raisins. Serve with sahawiq and salad.

Did You Know?

The dried limes (loomi) used in kabsa give it a distinctive tangy depth that no other ingredient can replicate.