Italian Kabsa الكبسة الإيطالية

| By: Ahmed Aljohani|

Kabsa is made with rice and meat and a mixture of spices. It is regarded as the national dish of Saudi Arabia. The name comes from the Arabic word (kabasa, "كبس"), which literally means press or squeeze, alluding the technique used in cooking where the ingredients are all cooked into a squeezed pot. There are many ways to cook Kabsa, but here is my special recipe that I created using Italian methods and ingredients.

Ingredients

Yield: 4 servings

Cooking time: ~30 minutes

• 1 white onion

• 1 green bell pepper

• ½ yellow bell pepper

• 1 lb. chicken breasts

• 2 spoons of olive oil

• 1 spoon of tomato paste

• 3 cups of any pasta (I used Ditalini)

For the spices:

• 1 pack of 7 Arabic spices blend (sold in Middle eastern stores or on Amazon)

If not found, add 1 tsp from each of the following:

• Salt

• Black pepper

• Cumin

• Saffron

• Cardamom

• Cloves

• Black lime

• Bay leaves

• Nutmeg

Cooking Instructions

1. Dice up the onion, green and yellow bell peppers

2. Cut the chicken breasts into small pieces

3. Pour the olive oil into a large pot on medium heat. After the oil is heated, add the diced onion

4. Stir the onion until it turns yellow (about 2 minutes) then add the chicken, yellow and green bell peppers

5. Stir until the chicken turns white with a glimpse of gold (~ 5 minutes)

6. Add 1 liter (32 oz) of boiled water into the pot

7. Add 1 spoon of tomato paste

8. Add the spices

9. Stir until everything is mixed, then add the pasta

10. Cover the pot and let the pasta cook on low heat until most of the water is absorbed ( ~20 minutes). Add more water if needed. Serve immediately

Notes

• It is better if it is served in a bowl and you can garnish it with herbs. It is customary to drink a soft drink along with Kabsa.

• There is room for modification here, depending on your taste, at step 4. You can substitute chicken out for another type of meat. You can also make this dish vegetarian by substituting tofu or extra vegetables and mushrooms for the chicken.

• Add 3 teaspoons if a big pack of the spice blend is found (instead of the one single use pack). You can reduce the amount if you are not a fan of spicy food since the blend is considered medium spicy (website for the blend)