Omani Chicken Kabuli Rice Food

OMANI CHICKEN KABULI RICE

Steps:

• Wash white basmati rice and soak 10 to more minutes depending on quality of rice.
• Wash whole chicken legs keeping the skin on. Add to pot.
• Cover chicken pieces with water and bring to the boil skimming off the scum.
• Add whole spices including loomi as well as sea salt and boil for a further 40 minutes.
• Drain the chicken pieces keeping the chicken stock and shallow fry in a bit of light tasting extra virgin olive oil until golden brown.
• Fry sliced onion in the same oil until golden brown then remove half of them and keep aside for garnishing.
• To the remaining onions in the pan, add tomato paste and baharat spice mix then add 6 cups of the chicken stock after straining. To that add the drained rice.
• Bring to a boil and reduce heat and cover for 10-20 minutes depending on amount, quality and quantity. (If it's a cheaper rice it will become softer faster so do 10 minutes and take off the heat 1 minute then check if done).
• Drain raisins then add to a pan with a bit of oil and fry along with the almonds until toasted. Then add garnish onions & loomi powder.
• Put the rice on a plate and arrange chicken pieces on top, garnish with raisins, almonds and onion mixture and a few cilantro leaves if wished.
• I serve it with a raita (yogurt salad) or daqoos (Gulf Arabian tomato sauce).
• Enjoy!

CHICKEN KABULI PULAO (AFGHANISTAN)

Steps:

• Place chicken pieces, onions and hot water in a large pot.
• Cover and simmer for about 1 hour.
• Add salt to taste.
• Remove chicken, reserving stock & discard cooked onions.
• Preheat oven to 325°F.
• Heat 2 tbs of the butter over medium high heat and fry chicken pieces containing bones, salting as needed.
• Boil a large amount of water with sea salt and cook the rice in it for exactly 8 minutes. Set aside in a pot until ready to assemble.
• Make stock sauce:
• Brown onions in butter and remove from heat.
• Add cardamom cumin, freshly ground black pepper & saffron liquid and mash with onion to form a paste.
• Add about 1/2 pt of the chicken stock; simmer for 5 minutes and taste for seasoning.
• Combine cooked rice, stock sauce as needed (I don't find it became a sauce so I added the onion paste with some broth as needed to finish cooking the rice) and chicken; place in a buttered casserole. Cover.
• Fry carrot matchsticks in 1/2 tbs butter and add dark raisins to them at the very end.
• Sprinkle partially cooked carrot matchsticks and raisins on top of chicken and rice and cover tightly with aluminum foil or cover.
• Place in oven for 35 minutes.
• Chopped toasted pistachios or slivered almonds may be added over the dish just before serving if so wished.
• There most probably will be left over stock that is very good even as a soup on it's own and probably served that way in an Afghani household.
• Enjoy!