Chef’s Special

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Rawia Kamal is the woman behind Roaring Belly, an online catering service offering homemade sandwiches, wraps, sliders and croissants. She says: “I had the idea of starting a sandwich café or bar for almost three years, but never had the guts to get on with step one. However, as I discussed this idea amongst family and friends, I got some good motivation to go ahead and start something small. I started browsing and researching to find a suitable name and a nice concept in what I am good at and that is where Roaring Belly came from. Bringing fresh homemade sarnies, whether in the form of special private orders or participating in exhibitions and events, was the best way to test the market in Bahrain.

“Being from Muharraq, I have grown up amongst some of the best chefs in the world, being my grandmother, mum and aunts, of course. They have smothered us with all the local traditional foods, infused with exquisite fresh spices and flavours that stick in my head to this day. This is where my cooking inspiration grew through the years; especially when I was living abroad for a long time, as I was reminded of the dishes we ate and ended up trying to imitate a few of them. I had a few mishaps in the process of making them, but managed to create similar versions.”

She shares with us one of those traditional dishes, chicken machboos, which is a common sight at Bahraini celebrations.

Ingredients:
750g basmati rice
1 whole chicken (cut into pieces)
1 diced tomato
¼ cup chopped parsley
1 diced onion
Green chillies (optional)
Fresh bay leaves
1 cube vegetable or chicken stock
½ tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander powder
Cardamom seeds and cloves
1 cinnamon stick
2 dried limes
1 tsp Arabic spice blend (bzar)
1 tsp curry powder
½ tsp cumin powder
½ tsp cinnamon powder
1 tsp grated ginger
½ tsp ground cardamom
1 I tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
½ tsp ground pepper
2.5l water

Method:
Marinate the chicken with salt and turmeric.
Fry the chicken on both sides until brown and crispy. Set aside.
Sauté onions over medium heat until caramelised.
Add ginger, bay leaves, green chillies, tomato, dried limes, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon stick. Return the chicken back to the pot, add the stock cube, black pepper, ground coriander, Arabic spices, cumin powder, turmeric and mix all together.
Add the curry powder then cover the mixture with water adding an additional teaspoon of salt to taste.
Cover and let it cook for 40 minutes. Add more water if necessary.
Add the ground cinnamon and ground cardamom then the rice and cover for seven minutes.
Throw in the chopped parsley. Cover again and let it cook for another 15–20 minutes until rice is cooked.
Before serving, drizzle with olive oil and transfer to serving plate. Enjoy.