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Tbit
Baghdadi chicken & rice
The Iraqi-Jewish Shabbat pot that cooks low overnight, so the rice turns deep gold and the whole house smells of cardamom by morning.
- 30 min
- 8 hr
- 8 hr 30 min
- 6
- Involved
In my grandmother’s house in Baghdad, tbit went into the oven on Friday afternoon and wasn’t touched again until lunch on Saturday. That was the whole point: a Shabbat dish that cooks itself while no one is allowed to work the stove.
The magic is at the very bottom — the layer of rice that sits against the pot all night and turns to a dark, lacquered crust. We fought over it as children. We still do. Don’t rush the overnight cook; it’s what turns plain rice and chicken into the smell of home.
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken, about 1.6 kg
- 2 cups basmati rice, rinsed until the water runs clear
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp baharat (Iraqi seven-spice)
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 4 cups chicken stock, hot
- Salt and black pepper
- Neutral oil, for browning
Method
- Brown the chicken on all sides in a heavy, lidded pot over medium-high heat, then lift it out.
- Soften the onions in the same pot, then stir in the tomato paste, baharat, cardamom and turmeric until fragrant.
- Add the rinsed rice and turn it through the spiced onions until every grain is coated.
- Nestle the chicken back into the rice, pour in the hot stock, and season well.
- Bring to a gentle simmer, cover tightly, and move to a very low oven (110°C / 225°F).
- Leave it overnight, at least 8 hours, until the rice is set and the bottom has formed a dark, crisp crust (the hcaqa).
- Bring the whole pot to the table and lift the chicken out to carve; serve the crust to whoever loves it most.