Machboos — Gulf Spiced Rice with Chicken Thighs & Tomatoes

Ingredients

• 1½ lb Chicken Thighs, bone-in pieces
• 1½ cups basmati rice, rinsed and soaked 20 minutes
• 3 Tomatoes, chopped
• 2 onions, sliced thin
• 4 cloves garlic and 1-inch ginger, grated
• 2 tbsp baharat
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 3 dried limes (loomi), pierced
• 1 cinnamon stick and 4 cardamom pods
• 4 tbsp ghee or oil
• 3 cups water
• Salt, black pepper, and chopped cilantro

Method

1. Fry the onions in the ghee over medium until deep golden and sweet, 15 minutes. Take your time; pale onions give you a pale-tasting machboos.
2. Add the garlic, ginger, baharat, turmeric, cinnamon, and cardamom and stir 1 minute, then brown the Chicken Thighs on all sides in the spiced base.
3. Add the Tomatoes, dried limes, water, and salt. Cover and simmer 25 minutes until the Chicken Thighs is nearly done — 165°F (74°C) for poultry — then lift the pieces out.
4. Stir the drained rice into the broth, check that the liquid sits about ½ inch above the grain, and bring to a boil. Set the Chicken Thighs back on top, cover, and cook on the lowest heat 18 minutes.
5. Rest, covered, 10 minutes. Fluff around the meat, crush one dried lime into the pot if you want more sourness, and finish with cilantro.