Be it for a reason or for no reason at all, if you ever find yourself in the gulf of UAE, you should treat your mouth to this lavish nonveg dish called Al Machboos.

This is one of the best Arabic dishes you can try once you land in the UAE. If you are looking for a recipe or how to cook a guide, then the internet has led you to the right spot.

In this article, I will help you cook Al Machboo in very simple steps. If you are interested in a recipe as such, you need to follow this article.

What Are Al Machboos?

Al Machboos is a specific type of nonveg rice dish that uses meat as the key ingredient along with onions, rice, and several species for seasoning. For the nonveg part, you can use lamb, fish, or Chicken. The fish or the meat in the Dish is kept in large pieces.

Apart from the onion and tomatoes, there are other seasoning ingredients you need. There is a special Middle Eastern spice powder called Baharat. You need Baharat. Baharat is a mix of different spices like – Cumin, coriander, chili powder, Nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, black peppercorns, Cardamom, etc. there are specific percentages for each of the spices used to make the blend of.

These spices are easily available in most Arabic shops. In addition to Baharat, another spice named Loomy is used for seasoning. Loomy is a basically dried black lemon used in most of the delicious cuisines made in Middle Eastern countries.

How Do You Cook Al Machboos?😋

The simple process of cooking all matchbooks requires a large pot. You need to cook the rice, meat, and dried lemon in boiling water until the food becomes tender.

You will need oil, and you can use both veg and nonveg oil, depending on your taste and preference. Olive oil, ghee, or veg oil are fine choices. The recipe originated in the UAE, and the entire cooking process takes 1:30 hours.

Now, if you are interested, allow me to tell you about the required ingredients and the steps to cook this delicious Arabic Dish.

What Ingredients Do You Need?

Here is a list of ingredients you need to make the Dish for four servings –

👉 1 kg Whole piece of Chicken cut into only 4 pieces.

👉 1.5 tbsps of Baharat spice.

👉 200-250 gms Chopped Onion

👉 250 gms Chopped Tomato

👉 40 gms Ginger paste

👉 40 gms (8 garlic cloves) Garlic. Make a paste of it.

👉 Few sprigs of Chopped Parsley ( as per requirement)

👉 Few sprigs of Chopped Cilantro ( as per requirement)

👉 2 tbsp of Ghee/1 tbsp Veg oil

👉 1/4 tablespoon Turmeric powder

👉 Salt according to salt

👉 1.5 cups Long Basmati Rice (washed & soaked for minimum 30 mins)

👉 3 1/3 cup Chicken Broth or water

👉 3 Green Cardamom

👉 2 inches of Cinnamon stick

👉 2 Loomi / black dried whole lemon

These are the main ingredients you need to cook al Machboos. But, if you are not from UAE, the Baharat spice may seem hard to come by. So why don’t you make it yourself? Here are the ingredients to make Baharat–

Ingredients To Make Baharat

⏩ 1 tablespoon of Black Peppercorns

⏩ 1 tablespoon of Cumin seeds

⏩ 2 tablespoons of Coriander seeds

⏩ 8 to 10 Cloves

⏩ 10-12 seeds of Green Cardamom

⏩ 1.5 tablespoons of Chili Powder/Kashmiri LAL Mirch powder.

⏩ People who don’t like chili can use Kashmiri or Degi Mirch powder

⏩ 1 Tsp Ground Cinnamon

⏩ 1/4 tsp Ground or grated Nutmeg

Steps To Make Al Machboos😋😋

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Here are the steps to cook Macghboos at home –

Step 1:

For the first step, you need to clean and soak your basmati rice in water for at least 30 minutes. It is better to have them soaked for 1 hour.

Step 2:

Now for the second part, you need to marinate the Chicken using salt and lemon. Marinate it for 30 minutes.

Step 3:

Now take a frying pan and pour in the oil, and heat it. You have to add cinnamon, bay leaves, cardamoms, and cloves into the heated oil. Add the onions in after stirring them for a few seconds. Then, you need to add the ginger garlic paste. Make sure to saute it until the raw flavor goes away.

Step 4:

Now you have to add in the blended tomatoes followed by turmeric powder. You need to saute the mixture until oil separates from it. You should also prepare the Chicken by frying them and putting them aside.

Step 5:

For the next step, add in the soaked basmati rice, green chilies & dried lime. Make sure to mix it well and saute it for around 2 minutes.

Step 6:

Now you need to use a pressure cooker and add 1 ½ of water to it. Put the mixture within and pressure cook it until you hear two whistles. Once done, you need to put out the flame and let the Dish cool down.

Step 7:

Once cold, add some ghee into the Al Machboos and use a fork to fluff it up a bit. Now, you can arrange the Chicken on top of the rice and season it with fried onions and coriander leaves.

Tips and Tricks for Al Machboos Success

To create the perfect Al Machboos at home, here are a few tips that you need to know.

Don’t back out from adding salt to each step of your recipe, the chicken stock, the cooked chicken and even to the rice. Without salt your Machboos is going to be very bland. So, keep on tasting your Machboos while adjusting the salt and the seasoning.
The chicken needs to be a brownish color before you add water to it, that way the water will have a lot of flavors to it.
Finish cooking the chicken in the oven, it will make the chicken crispy inside and out.
Add enough toasted nuts and fried onions.
It is important that you steam the rice for 10 minutes even after it’s done cooking, so that it turns out fluffy and not mushy. Later gently fluff the rice with a fork after it is rested for 10 minutes off the heat.

Al Machboos – Recipe Card

Al Machboos Recipe

Al Machboos is a specific type of nonveg rice dish that uses meat as the key ingredient along with onions, rice, and several species for seasoning.

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Prep Time 20

Cook Time 1

Servings 6

Ingredients

1 kg chicken (cut into medium pieces)
2 cups basmati rice (soaked for 30 mins)
3 onions (thinly sliced)
2 tomatoes (chopped)
3 cloves garlic (minced)
1 tbsp ginger paste
2 green chilies (slit)
3 tbsp oil or ghee
2 dried limes (loomi)
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp cinnamon powder
3-4 pcs cardamom pods
2 cloves
1 bay leaf
4 cups chicken stock or water
Salt to taste
Fresh coriander nuts, and fried onions for garnish

Instructions

Heat oil in a large pot and fry onions until they turn golden.
Add chilies, ginger, and garlic; sauté for a minute.
Add tomatoes and spices; sauté until the tomatoes become soft.
Add pieces of chicken and fry on all sides.
Add dried limes and chicken stock; simmer for 20 minutes.
Add soaked rice, adjust water to the right consistency, cover, and cook on low until the rice becomes fluffy.
Garnish with fried onions, nuts, and coriander.
Serve hot along with yogurt and salad.

Final Touch

Al Machboos tastes the best when you have the Baharat spice for the seasoning. It is a little hard to get by, but you can make it using the ingredient list given here.

I hope you can make the best Al Machboos after reading this recipe. If you have any queries, you can comment below.

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Shahnawaz Alam

Shahnawaz is a passionate and professional Content writer. He loves to read, write, draw and share his knowledge in different niches like Technology, Cryptocurrency, Travel,Social Media, Social Media Marketing, and Healthcare.