Welcome to Bahrain! It took a while for me to get straight that Bahrain was not in Africa, but instead is in the Middle East! Not only is it in the Middle East, but it is considered West Asia! Good grief, I'm turned around. Bahrain is the third smallest country in Asia. According to Google, the population is 1.58 million people and the capital is Capital Governorate. Their national dish is...
Chicken Machboos!
We had something very similar in Qatar, so it was familiar! Luckily I already had one of the strange seasonings mixed (thank you Qatar!), so it made the whole preparation a little easier. The chicken machboos was a one-pot-wonder, which was nice and easy! To go with the chicken machboos, we made an onion-lentil dish and dakous, which is like a Middle-Eastern salsa. It was a time-consuming meal to make, but honestly pretty easy. Here's what I did:
3 tbsp butter
1 tbsp baharat
1 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp avocado oil
1 whole chicken, pieced apart
1 jalepeño, seeded and diced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
5 large cloves or garlic, minced
2 large roma tomatoes, diced
2-3 dried limes (loomi), several holes punched throughout each one
5 green cardamom pods
1 stick cinnamon (about 2 inches long)
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 C rice (soaked for at least 15 minutes, then rinsed and drained)
3 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
Rosewater for sprinkling
- Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat and fry the chicken pieces on both sides until the skin is brown and crispy.
- Transfer the chicken to a plate and leave the remaining oil in the Dutch oven
- Add the butter, reduce the heat to medium, and fry the onions until starting to brown, about 10-12 minutes.
- Add the ginger, garlic, and jalepeño and saute for another 2 minutes.
- Add the baharat and turmeric and cook for another minute.
- Return the chicken pieces to the Dutch oven along with the tomatoes, dried limes, cardamom pods, cinnamon, ground cloves and salt.
- Add the chicken broth and stir to combine.
- Bring it to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for one hour.
- Add the cilantro, parsley and drained rice and stir to combine.
- Return it to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for another 15-20 minutes until the rice is done and has absorbed the liquid.
- Transfer the chicken and rice to a serving dish, and sprinkling with 1-2 tablespoons of rosewater.
- Add some cilantro, parsley, and mint leaves as a topping.
- Enjoy!
- Boil the lentils until they are cooked.
- In a pan, add oil and fry the onion and bell pepper until dark and caramelized.
- Drain the lentils and add to the onion and bell pepper mix.
- Serve and enjoy!
- Heat the oil in a pan and saute onions, garlic, jalapeños, and red bell pepper until soft.
- Blend the tomatoes and pour into the onion mixture and mix well.
- Add the bullion, chili powder, pepper, and salt.
- Let this boil for about 45 minutes.
- Serve with lentils and rice.
(Source: Dakous)
The verdict? This was a good meal! We liked it better than Qatar, but not sure why. The dakous was spicy - very spicy. It matched very well with the lentils, which didn't have much spice at all! The chicken machboos was very good, and had the right amount of flavor. The mint leaves on it was a very nice touch - it made it more fresh and less heavy. All in all, a good meal!
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