Traditional Emirati cuisine is a powerhouse of flavour, created with a clever intoxicating blend of spices. The  signature flavour profiles are a richness in the dishes bought about through a subtle combination of warming spices such as black pepper, coriander, cinnamon , nutmeg and paprika lifted with the citrusy notes from dried lime powder and sumac. I’m using a very traditional Emirati spice here, known as ‘Bzar,’ a UAE version of Garam Masala.

The recipe that I have created for you today is hearty and served with a bright bejeweled rice,  perfect for a family gathering and easy enough to rustle up for a midweek meal. I’ve also used chicken thighs here as I love the tenderness of the meat and eating this with your fingers brings about an exotic sense of the desert Bedouins.  To balance out this spicy dish, I serve this with a lightly herbed mint and dill yoghurt, that brings a lovely creaminess for that added perfection.

Most of the spices are readily available, however, I have included a recipe to make some homemade Bzar spice in case you can’t find it anywhere. All you need to do is toast all the ingredients and then pop everything into a spice grinder – as simple as that!

Now, lets get cracking with this recipe!

Serves 4

10 chicken thighs

2 tbs  bzar spice * (please see recipe below, if you can’t find shop bought spice)

½ tsp sumac

1 tsp salt

1 large onion, finely diced.

1 tbs ginger

1 tbs garlic

1 tsp cumin powder

5 green cardamons

4 plum tomatoes, diced

3 bay leaves

1 ½ cups of basmati rice

½ cup of pistachios, finely sliced

1 tbs of orange peel, very finely sliced

3 tbs of dried apricots, finely sliced into slivers

2 tbs golden sultanas

½ cup almonds, finely sliced into slivers

2 tbs of dried cranberries

2 pinches saffron fronds

Chicken stock

3 cups of water for boiling.

ingredients

First coat the chicken thighs liberally in the bazr spice, the sumac and the salt

Place a large heavy casserole pan over a medium heat and heat 2 tbs of olive oil, until hot but not smoking.

Now add the coated chicken thighs. Fry gently until browned on all sides, taking care not to burn. Cover and set aside.

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In the same pan, add another tbs of oil and gently fry the white onion until softened. To this add the ginger and garlic, the cloves, the cumin powder, the cardamom, chopped tomatoes, bay leaves and ½ tsp salt. Stir it all together and add the pre-fried chicken pieces . Top with 1 cup of water ,cover and lower the heat to low. Let this cook away for 45 minutes.

In a separate pot, add 3 cups of water and set to boil. Add the chicken stock cube, the dried lime along with the saffron strands.  Tip in the basmati rice and stir well. Cover, lower the heat to low-medium and let this cook for at least 25 minutes or until the rice is tender.

Now to bring it all together. First complete the rice. In a large frying pan, heat 1 tbs ghee until hot but not smoking. Now toss in the pistachio nuts, the almonds, the apricots, sultanas and cranberries. Toss these all together for a minute or two. To this, gently add the cooked rice. Combine these all together, folding over gently taking care not to mush the rice.

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To serve, heap up the rice in a large brass platter and place the cooked, spiced chicken thighs all around. Drizzle over with some pomengranate molasses and serve piping hot with some whisked dill and mint yoghurt (simply take 2 cups yoghurt, whisk until smooth and add 2 tbs chopped dill, 1 tbs chopped mint, ½ tsp salt and ½ tsp finely cracked black pepper)

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Bzar Spice Mix  (courtesy of the wonderful Anissa Helou)

Ingredients

1/4 cup black peppercorns

1/4 cup cumin seeds

1/4 cup coriander seeds

1 tbsp. cloves

1 tbsp. green cardamom pods

3 dried red chillies stemmed

2 cinnamon sticks, broken in half

1 whole nutmeg, broken into pieces

1 1/2 tbsp. ground ginger

1 tbsp. ground turmeric

Working with one spice at a time, toast each of the spices in a large frying pan, over a low heat. Grind peppercorns, cumin, coriander, cloves, cardamom, chiles, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a spice grinder until finely ground; transfer to a bowl and stir in ginger and turmeric. Store in an air-tight container for up to 1 year.

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