Mains
How to Make Authentic Kuwaiti Machboos
To prepare delicious Kuwaiti machboos, use this detailed and clear recipe. Machboos is one of the best Gulf dishes ever—if you try it once, you’ll make it a hundred times!
Ingredients
Start here, then move straight into the method.
- 1 whole chicken or large broiler chicken, washed and cut into pieces
- Chicken boiling aromatics: 1 black loomi (dried lime) / 2 cinnamon sticks / bay leaves / whole coriander seeds / whole cumin seeds / star anise or cloves / 1 whole garlic head with its skin / 1 dried onion
- Olive oil
- Ground spices: ground cinnamon / black pepper / ground cardamom / salt
- To prepare the rice
- 3 cups basmati rice, soaked for 1 hour in warm water and drained
- 1/4 cup rose water
- A pinch of saffron
- A pinch of ground cardamom
- 4 large onions
- Loomi powder
- Yellow raisins, soaked for 1 hour in warm water and drained
- Salt
- 1 kilo very ripe red tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 large garlic clove
- 1 loomi
- To make the daqooq or sauce
- Serving
Method
Follow the cooking sequence without leaving the page.
- Stir the chicken with a little olive oil until the pink color disappears, then cover the chicken with boiling water along with the aromatics (without salt) and let it cook until done.
- . After cooking, place the chicken in a skillet and sprinkle it with cinnamon, cardamom, black pepper, salt, and a little olive oil. Stir it until it takes on a nice color and gets a light crispness.
- At the same time, strain the chicken cooking liquid and measure out two cups for each cup of rice into a pot, then salt it. When it comes to a boil, add the drained rice. When the water starts to dry out, drizzle in 1/4 cup rose water dissolved with a pinch of saffron and cardamom, and leave it over low heat until cooked.
- Meanwhile, finely chop 4 large onions and soften them in olive oil before adding the drained yellow raisins and loomi powder.
- Put the peeled tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic clove, and salt in a food processor, then cook the mixture down over medium heat until thickened.
- Place the rice in a large serving dish, arrange the chicken pieces on top, and garnish with the onion and raisins. Serve the daqooq alongside it in a separate bowl.
Recipe tags
MainsGulfDairy freeGluten freeNut freeEgg free
Notes and serving ideas
- Place the rice in a large serving dish, arrange the chicken pieces on top, and garnish with the onion and raisins. Serve the daqooq alongside it in a separate bowl.
- Authentic Kuwaiti machboos recipe and method from the friend and cook of the What Are You Cooking Today website:
- Mays Khalid Al-Othman
- Click on Mays' name to visit her profile page on our site
