Ingredients:

  • 3 cups of basmati rice
  • 5 cups of chicken stock
  • 3 onions
  • 5 garlic cloves
  • 1 tablespoon Baharat spice
  • ½ teaspoon whole cloves
  • 1 teaspoon peppercorns
  • 1 teaspoon coriander
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • ½ teaspoon of salt
  • Cinnamon stick
  • Dried limes
  • ½  cup raisins soaked in water
  • ½ cup of dates
  • ½  cup blanched almonds
  • ½ cup chopped pistachios
  • Cilantro, or Chives, or Spring onion for garnish.

NOTE: Normally, the recipe is cooked with chicken, and the broth is made from that. Because I wanted to make the beef skewers, I omitted the chicken and went to the butchers to buy chicken stock. You can use chicken cubes too, but stock from the butchers is better.

Preparation:

Soak raisins in water for at least 1 hour before cooking. Longer is better.

De-seed and finely chop dates.

Chop onions in large chunks.

Finely chop garlic.

Mix cloves, peppercorns, dried coriander, cumin seeds and salt together into one bowl.

Cooking:

In a large, tall pot, fry sliced onions until golden brown then remove half of them and keep aside for garnishing.

Add baharat spice mix and garlic to onions and stir. Add a little oil if it’s too dry.

Add rice and chicken stock.

Add bowl with spices, dried limes and cinnamon stick.

Bring to a boil. Then reduce to low heat and cover for 20 minutes. Set aside for 5 minutes and let cool.

Drain raisins and mix with dates.

Heat frying pan, add oil. Add raisins, dates, almonds and pistachios. Stir regularly until almonds are ‘toasted’ colour. Add remaining onions, stir and turn off heat.

Take half of the onion/almond/pistachio/raisin/dates mix and add to a large pot of rice and stir to mix them in.

Then place rice on a large plate or casserole dish and garnish the rice with remaining onion/almond/pistachio/raisin/dates mix.

Add chopped coriander or chives or spring onions on top.