Kabsa (final)

Food is an important item which presents the nation taste and culture of the country. Kabsa is famous all around the Saudi Arabia and is the national dish of Saudi Arabia. Kabsa can be found in many varieties depending upon its ingredients used for cooking. Mainly this dish is made by the mixture of spices, basmati rice, chicken and vegetables which are easily available to every community level in Saudi Arabia. The variety of meat used in making Kabsa is chicken, goat meat and cow meat. The most popular one is chicken Kabsa.

Our family, including my cousins, uncles and aunts, get together every month in our farmhouse which is about 60 miles away from my hometown “Alhafouf”. We usually get together in the farmhouse and stay there for several days. My first hand-made Kabsa by myself was when I was ten years old at our farmhouse. At the first day of our visit, me and my cousins asked grandma to make Kabsa because she was very famous for this dish in our family. She was hesitant because of age but got ready to cook it when we insisted, but she asked us to help her in cooking this dish. My aunt lives very far from our farmhouse and is expected to be in afternoon, so we decided to serve the Kabsa after her arrival. I was helping my mother and others in cleaning house, decorating and placing things which are necessary while living here. After that my duty with my brothers was to bring the chicken for Kabsa. We went to a nearby super market and bought the chicken.  

Kabsa can be cooked in various ways including pressure cooker, Mandi and Mathbi. My grandmother was an old lady who prefers the old ancient method for making Kabsa which is by using Mandi. Mandi is a deep hole in the ground for barbecuing of chicken. Lot of spices are used for marinating chicken including black pepper, cloves, cardamom, saffron, cinnamon, black lime, bay leaves and nutmeg. These spices are basically responsible for Kabsa taste and these are added with lot of care. My grandmother marinated the chicken and it was ready to be barbecued. We placed the chicken in the hole and sealed to be barbecued and to get the taste of the smoke.  

As our aunt was expected to reach later in afternoon, grandmother stopped working on the Kabsa until her arrival time comes closer. My cousins and I planned a soccer match. We played soccer match making two groups of six members for each team. I was not really any good in playing soccer, so they put me as a goal keeper. We unfortunately lost our match because the other team played really well in the match.

All were tired and decided to take a nap before my aunt arrives. I decided to go and help my grandma to make the Kabsa. Grandma started cooking the Kabsa and I was helping her, so I can learn how to cook Kabsa. At first place, chicken which was earlier marinated with spices and browned using some onions and spices are barbecued in the hole which is covered during the barbecue process. After the chicken is barbecued and it’s ready to be served, water is added and then liquid is drained off to add rice. Chicken is browned further to bring its original delicious taste and rice is cooked in meat stock using various spices like black pepper, cloves, black lime, bay leaves, almonds, pine nuts, onions and raisins. After the rice is cooked properly, Kabsa is ready to be served to everyone.

Everyone was hungry and desperately waiting for aunt to arrive so that we can have our traditional Kabsa. Thank God she arrived in time and after getting fresh, grandma was serving the Kabsa to everyone. The taste was so delicious that everyone was eating more than what they normally eat. I really enjoyed that day in the farmhouse with Kabsa, playing soccer and spending the day with my beloved relatives.  These are the best memories of my life and I always remind them to enjoy in my life. I wish to have such days again and again in my life and eat Kabsa cooked by my grandmother.