Do you know who declares the national dish of a country? I have no clue but would like to know what makes a dish national dish. However, not every country has one - India doesn't have one because of its huge diversity! I think it is safe too! 😊
Updated images on 10th June 2017
Anyways, today's recipe Mofatah Al Dajaj came into my radar when I read this article in Saudi Gazette. The writer shares his thoughts on why he is not convinced that Kabsa is a Saudi's national dish. Though the article is a personal point of view of the writer, the thought that Kabsa need not be the national dish of Saudi Arabia got me looking for more about it. I then landed on this site Arabic Bites that seems to be abandoned for long but a treasure trove of middle eastern recipes and this recipe got my full attention.
Mofatah Al Dajaj has three things to it. Chicken pieces boiled in water with spices shown in the above image. Then a wet mixture with spice powders and flavour waters gets done. Which is then used to make Kashna with onion, almonds and raisins or sultanas. The boiled chicken is then picked and roasted while the stock is used to cook the rice. Served with roasted chicken topped and buttermilk or Laban as we locals call it. It is made for each other.
Cooking rice in stock or broth is not new, but what goes into making the stock is unique to Mofatah. The highlight is the Kashna mix which is used to garnish the rice and roast the boiled chicken.
We loved this so much as it was a welcome change to the usual Biryani or Ghee rice. You must give this a try, especially if you have never cooked with these spices like Shaiba Leaves, which is used in Indian cooking and is called Black stone flower/ Kalpasi / Dagar da Phool. And the Galangal root, is also called as Thai ginger? I am not very sure about it, but it looks like this. Loomi is the dried black lime.
As we are "I-need-more-masala-in-my-biryani" type of people, I have increased the quantity of the spice mixture and onions to get a lot of masala for the rice. OMG! I have taken the liberty to call it masala but it the Kashna!
Yields: for 2 hungry tummy
Mofatah Al Dajaj | An Ethnic Saudi Rice and Chicken Dish
INGREDIENTS
Whole Spices to be tied in a piece of cloth1-inch Galangal root
2-inch cinnamon stick
3 whole green cardamom pods
2 shaiba leaves (Black stone flower/ Kalpasi / Dagar da Phool)
1 loomi (dried black lemon)
For Wet Spice mixture:
a pinch of saffron
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1 teaspoon chilli flakes
1 teaspoon curry powder or Bezar spice mix
2 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
1 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon rose water
Juice of a lemon
1 to 2 teaspoon white vinegar
Salt to taste.
For Almond and raisins garnish:1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1 teaspoon chilli flakes
1 teaspoon curry powder or Bezar spice mix
2 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
1 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon rose water
Juice of a lemon
1 to 2 teaspoon white vinegar
Salt to taste.
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, halved and sliced finely
1 tablespoons raisins
1/4 cup blanched almonds and/or toasted pine nuts
2 tablespoons of prepared Wet Spice mixture
To Cook Chicken:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, halved and sliced finely
2 to 3 green chillies
4 chicken thighs with bone and 2 legs (approx 550 gm)
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
bundled spices
3 and 1/2 cups water
For the Rice
1 and 1/4 cups basmati rice
Chicken broth that you get after cooking the chicken - adjust this according to your rice requirement
Salt to taste - season as you go
METHOD:
Whole Spices to be tied in a piece of cloth- Make a small bundle of the whole spices by keeping them in a clean small piece of cloth (cotton or cheesecloth) and tie the ends together. Ensure this is tight so it doesn't open up while boiling.
- Add all the ingredients in a small bowl and give it a good stir. Keep this aside.
- Soak the almonds in hot water for few minutes or microwave for 1 minute. Peel and slice the almonds and keep aside. And if adding Pine nuts, roast them and keep aside.
- Heat oil in pan and add onions and cook on a low flame until they are caramelised
- Add 2 tablespoons of Wet Spice mixture and cook for few minutes, then add the almonds and raisins
- Keep aside until needed
- Heat oil in pot and add finely chopped onion and green chillies and saute this for about 2 minutes
- Add the washed and drained chicken pieces and season with salt, pepper, and cumin. Keep turning the chicken pieces until lightly browned
- Add the whole spices knotted bag and 3.5 cups water
- Bring the water to boil, then simmer and cook covered for 30 minutes (on very low heat)
- Switch off and with a tong, remove the chicken pieces from the pot and place on flat pan.
- Brush the pieces with the remaining Wet Spice mixture, and roast it on stove top or oven until lightly browned and charred
- Wash and soak the Basmati rice for 20 minutes and then let it drain completely
- Meanwhile, to double ensure there is enough broth in the pot to cook the rice, transfer the broth into a measuring cup and adjust accordingly. My rice required 2 cups of water for every cup of rice. I got that exactly. So add or remove liquid as per your rice requirement.
- my method of cooking rice -Tip in the rice into the broth. Bring it to boil on medium flame. Let it cook until there is no liquid of the surface.
- Reduce the flame to lowest.
- Stir it once and place back the roasted chicken and Kashna or Almond and onion mixture over the rice. Cover the pot with a foil and then a tight lid.
- Slide a tawa between the flame and pot. Cook for another few more minutes and switch off.
- Serve Mofatah hot with buttermilk!
PS: I have chosen to put back the cooked chicken and masala over the rice and give it a short dum process, you can skip that and just serve the cooked chicken along with the rice.
Now, I think Mofatah Al Dajaj should have been a national dish of Saudi!
