Name: Madghout (Madghut)
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Cuisine: Saudi
Ingredients: 1 kg lamb or chicken, on the bone; 500 g (2½ cups) basmati rice, soaked 30 min; 2 onions, chopped; 4 garlic cloves, minced; 3 tomatoes, grated; 2 tbsp tomato paste; 60 ml (¼ cup) oil; 2 dried limes (loomi), pierced; 1 tbsp kabsa spice mix (baharat); 1 cinnamon stick, 4 cardamom, 4 cloves, 2 bay leaves; Pinch of saffron; About 900 ml water; Salt to taste; 3 tbsp fried nuts and raisins

Madghout pressure-cooked meat and rice garnished with nuts — Photo: Vis M · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Madghout — from the Arabic for “pressed” — is the pressure-cooker classic of Saudi home cooking. Meat, rice and a tomato-based spice base cook together under pressure, so the grains soak up the full flavour of the meat and the whole dish comes together quickly and richly. It is everyday comfort food beloved for its ease and depth.

Servings: 5
Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 55 minutes
Total: 1 hour 15 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Rice: Aged long-grain basmati

Method

Tick a step to mark it done.

Step 1: In the pressure cooker, brown the onions in oil, then add the garlic and meat and sear.
Step 2: Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, spices, dried limes and salt; cook until the oil separates.
Step 3: Add the water, seal the pressure cooker and cook the meat until tender (about 30 minutes for lamb, 15 for chicken). Release the pressure.
Step 4: Check the liquid — you want roughly double the volume of the rice; adjust with hot water. Stir in the saffron and the drained rice.
Step 5: Seal again and cook 6–8 minutes, then release and rest 5 minutes.
Step 6: Fluff gently, garnish with fried nuts and raisins, and serve.

To serve

Serve with daqoos or plain yoghurt.

Madghout (Madghut)

Ingredients

Method

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Lamb Kabsa

Chicken Mandi