Kabsa Recipe: Step-by-Step Gulf Spiced Rice with Chicken

Kabsa is the dish that anchors a Gulf table: fragrant long-grain rice cooked with chicken, tomato, and a warm spice blend, finished with the sour note of dried lime. It looks like a project but it's really a one-pot rhythm — build the base, cook the chicken, cook the rice in that same broth. Get the spice blend right and the rest follows.

The key to kabsa

Two things carry the flavour: the kabsa spice blend (a warm mix of black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, clove, and more) and loomi — dried lime — which gives kabsa its distinctive tang. Cooking the rice directly in the chicken broth is what makes every grain taste of the dish.

Ingredients (serves 4–5)

• 1 whole chicken, jointed
• 2 cups basmati rice, rinsed and soaked 20 minutes
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tomatoes, grated (or 2 tbsp tomato paste + 2 chopped tomatoes)
• 2–3 tbsp kabsa spice blend
• 2 dried limes (loomi), pierced
• 3 tbsp oil or ghee
• 4 cups water or stock
• ¼ cup toasted almonds and raisins, to garnish
• Salt to taste

Method

1. Heat oil in a large pot. Soften the onions, then add garlic and cook until fragrant.
2. Stir in the grated tomato and 2–3 tbsp kabsa spice blend. Cook a few minutes until it darkens and smells rich.
3. Add the chicken pieces, turning to coat. Pour in the water, add the dried limes and salt, cover, and simmer until the chicken is cooked, about 30 minutes.
4. Lift out the chicken and set aside. Measure the broth — you want about 3 cups for 2 cups of rice.
5. Add the drained rice to the broth, bring to a boil, then cover and cook on low until the liquid is absorbed, 15–18 minutes. Rest 5 minutes off the heat.
6. Meanwhile, brown the chicken under a grill for colour. Serve over the rice, topped with almonds and raisins.

Tips

• Pierce the dried limes so they release their sourness into the broth. Remove before serving if you prefer a milder tang.
• Toast the spice blend in the tomato base — blooming it in oil deepens the flavour far more than adding it to the water.
• Rest the rice before fluffing, so the grains stay separate.

It starts with the blend

Kabsa is only as good as its spice mix. A fresh, properly balanced blend gives the warmth and aroma the dish is known for; a stale or generic one leaves it flat.

👉 Shop MELevant Kabsa Spice Blend

Curious how kabsa compares to mandi and mansaf? See our guide to Middle Eastern spice blends.