Madrouba: The Gulf Porridge That Gets Beaten Into Shape

Most rice dishes are judged on whether the grains stay separate. Madrouba is judged on the opposite. The word means beaten, and the cook's job is to work the pot with a spoon until rice and meat stop being distinguishable and the whole thing turns thick and creamy.

It is a comforting Emirati dish of rice, meat and spice, slow cooked to a porridge consistency closer to risotto than pilaf, as this guide to traditional Emirati dishes describes, and it is understood to have Bedouin origins, where it was a staple often served to guests.

That origin explains the design. A dish that stretches a modest amount of meat across a large pot, needs no special equipment, holds heat for a long time and is easy to eat is a dish built by people who moved. It belongs to the same khaleeji family as thareed, harees and machboos, described in this survey of Gulf gastronomy, and like harees it depends on texture more than on any single flavour.

Ingredients

Serves 5. Total time: 1 hour 30 minutes.

• 1 whole chicken, about 1.3 kg, jointed, or 8 bone in thighs
• 300 g short or medium grain rice, rinsed
• 3 tbsp ghee
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tbsp grated ginger
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp baharat
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 0.5 tsp ground cardamom
• 2 dried limes (loomi), pierced
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1.8 litres water or chicken stock, plus more as needed
• 2 tsp salt, to taste
• 2 tbsp ghee and 1 sliced onion, for the topping
• A handful of coriander, chopped

Method

1. Brown the chicken pieces in the ghee in a large heavy pot over medium high heat until golden on both sides. Remove and set aside.
2. Cook the chopped onion in the same pot 8 minutes until soft, then add the garlic and ginger for a minute.
3. Stir in the tomato paste, baharat, turmeric, cumin and cardamom and cook 2 minutes until fragrant and slightly darkened.
4. Return the chicken, add the dried limes, cinnamon, water and salt. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer, cover and cook 30 minutes.
5. Lift out the chicken. Once cool enough to handle, pull the meat from the bones in large pieces and discard skin and bones. Return the meat to the pot.
6. Add the rinsed rice and simmer uncovered, stirring often, for 35 to 45 minutes. It will look far too wet for a long time. Keep going and keep adding hot water if it tightens too early, since the rice needs to cook well past normal doneness.
7. When the grains have broken down and the mixture is thick, start beating. Work it hard with a wooden spoon or a potato masher for several minutes until the texture turns uniform and creamy. This is the step the dish is named for.
8. Fry the sliced onion in ghee until deep brown and crisp. Serve the madrouba in bowls with the fried onion, its ghee and chopped coriander on top.

Knowing when to start beating

The timing question is the one that separates a good madrouba from a lumpy one, and it is judged by texture rather than by clock.