Kuwait's national dish · Rice with hashu
Chicken Machboos Recipe (Kuwaiti Spiced Rice)
Bzar spice. Measured stock. Sweet onion hashu.
Recipe by Farwa ZeeshanTested in the NineFoods home kitchenMachboos is Kuwait's everyday celebration rice: chicken simmered with dried lime and bzar spice, rice cooked in the golden stock and finished with hashu, a sweet onion and raisin topping. Compared with Saudi kabsa it is less tomato-heavy and more about loomi, cardamom and rose water. It fails when the rice is wet or the hashu burns.
The 3 laws of chicken machboos
Why this recipe works
Generic spice
Kuwaiti bzar leans on cardamom, cinnamon and dried lime.
Eyeballing
1.5 cups stock per cup of rice keeps grains separate.
Quick fry
Onions must caramelise, not scorch.
Shopping and prep list
Ingredients
Chicken and stock
Rice and hashu
The NineFoods machboos gauge
Is the rice ready to cover?
Watch the rice after it boils uncovered.
Method · 4 stages
Step by step
Spice base
- Fry onions in ghee until golden, add ginger garlic, tomato and spices.
Simmer chicken
- Add chicken, loomi, salt and water and simmer.
- Lift out the chicken and measure 4.5 cups stock.
Hashu
- Caramelise sliced onions slowly in ghee, then add raisins, chickpeas, bzar and sugar.
Rice
- Boil stock, add rice. Use the gauge above, then steam with saffron rose water.
- Brown the chicken under the grill and serve on the rice with hashu.
Chef's troubleshooter
What went wrong? Pick the symptom
Why
Too much stock.
Fix next time
Use 1.5 cups stock per cup of rice.
Why
Onions burnt.
Fix next time
Cook them low and slow; add a splash of water if they catch.
Why
Weak stock.
Fix next time
Season the stock until it tastes slightly salty.
Why
Loomi seeds.
Fix next time
Pierce loomi once and remove before the rice goes in.
Swap smart
Ingredient roles and substitutes
| Ingredient | Job in the dish | Swap with |
|---|---|---|
| Bzar | Kuwaiti spice | Baharat plus extra cardamom and dried lime powder |
| Loomi | Tang | Lemon zest |
| Chicken | Main | Lamb, simmer 1.5 hours |
| Rose water | Aroma | Skip, or use kewra |
After the meal
Serve, store, reheat
Serve with
Daqqus (tomato sauce), salad and laban.
Store
Fridge 3 days; keep hashu separate so it stays sticky, not soggy.
Reheat
Steam the rice covered with a splash of water; warm hashu in a pan.
How we tested this recipe
Tested in a home kitchen, not a studio
Recipe developed and tested by Farwa Zeeshan, who cooks and tests every NineFoods recipe on a regular home stove.
- Cooked from start to finish with the exact quantities above for 6 servings, using both the metric and US cup measures.
- Every one of the 4 stages was timed at the stove; heat levels and the 'look for' cues are what we saw in the pan.
- The doneness check (is the rice ready to cover) and the troubleshooter come from batches that went wrong, and how we fixed them.
- Reheating and storage advice was checked on leftovers, not guessed.
Keep cooking
Related recipes and guides
Quick answers
Chicken Machboos FAQ
What is the difference between machboos and kabsa?
Machboos is the Kuwaiti and Bahraini dish, flavoured with bzar and loomi and topped with hashu; kabsa is Saudi and more tomato-forward.
What is bzar?
A Kuwaiti spice blend of cardamom, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, black pepper and dried lime.
What is hashu?
A sweet topping of caramelised onions, raisins and chickpeas.
Is majboos the same as machboos?
Yes, they are spellings of the same dish.