Pasta Kabsa with Chicken
Noor simmers chicken with onion, tomato and spices into a rich broth, lifts the pieces out to brown them, then cooks the pasta right in that broth with kabsa spice until every drop is absorbed — kabsa made with pasta instead of rice.
The idea behind kabsa never changes: a rich spiced chicken broth that the starch cooks in and soaks up. Here pasta stands in for rice, which makes it faster and far more popular with kids, while the kabsa spice and tomato keep the flavour authentically kabsa. The chicken is lifted out and browned in the oven for crispness, then returned on top at serving.
How to Prepare
Heat the oil in a wide pot and sauté the finely chopped onion until soft and golden.
Add the chicken pieces with the garlic cloves and lemon slice, season with black pepper, mixed spice, turmeric, cardamom and salt, and stir until the chicken colours all over.
Add the blended tomatoes and tomato paste and stir over medium heat for about 3 minutes until combined.
Pour in the water to cover the chicken, cover the pot and simmer gently until the chicken is fully cooked (about 30 minutes).
Lift the chicken out of the broth onto a tray and put it in the oven or under the grill until browned and golden.
Add the kabsa spice to the broth, check the salt, and bring it to a rolling boil.
Add the pasta to the boiling broth and stir well so it is all submerged.
Lower the heat, cover, and let the pasta cook and absorb the broth, stirring now and then, until almost all the liquid is gone.
Spread the pasta on a serving platter, arrange the browned chicken on top and serve hot.
Don't boil the pasta separately — cooking it straight in the broth is where all the flavour comes from. Keep the broth a little more generous than usual, since pasta drinks it up fast.
Ingredient Swaps
Use any short pasta — elbows, penne or farfalle.
No ready kabsa mix? Blend mixed spice with turmeric, cinnamon and ground dried lime.
Swap the chicken for lamb pieces and extend the simmering to about an hour and a half.
For deeper flavour, drop a pierced dried lime (loomi) into the broth.
For a lighter version, remove the chicken skin before browning.
Common Questions
How much broth does the pasta need?
A rough rule: twice the volume of the pasta. If the broth dries before the pasta is done, add hot water gradually.
Can I skip browning the chicken in the oven?
You can, but browning is what gives the pieces their golden colour and crisp skin. Without an oven, brown them in a pan with a little oil.
Why did my pasta go too soft?
It stayed on the heat after absorbing the broth. Turn it off while still slightly firm — it keeps cooking in the pot's heat.
Can I make it ahead?
Make the broth and chicken a day ahead and refrigerate, then cook the pasta in the broth just before serving.
How is this different from pasta in sauce?
Here the pasta cooks in spiced chicken broth rather than water, so it absorbs flavour from within instead of being coated from outside.
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