7 Reviews of Machboos or Fooga (Traditional United Arab Emirates Dish)

From: currybunny

On Jun 28, 2005

Incredible! All you Middle Eastern food lovers out there have got to try this! This was just so easy and delicious (great instructions!); I halved this for the two of us and used 1 1/2 skinless boneless chicken breasts and the optional chilli powder - it does not make the dish hot at all so don't be scared to use it! Everything cooked perfectly in 45 mins and yes we did try in with tomato sauce; my hubby loved it but I prefered yoghurt. Only thing I changed was adding a few tablespoons of lime juice to the stock rather than a dried lime; if anyone knows where you can get such a thing in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne I'd love to know because I'll certainly be making this again - thank you so much for posting!

From: muslimah

On Feb 17, 2007

This was a really good recipe. I couldn't find loomi at at my local middle eastern market (it's available on the internet), so I substitued the juice of a lime with its zest. Next time I would really like to try it with the loomi. Also, I found it a tad salty with the boullon, so next time I'll probably make it with low sodium chicken broth. Tried it with the ketchup, but preferred it plain Paired it with moroccan carrot salad. Thanks for the recipe. I'll definitely make it again.

From: Nisa

On May 12, 2007

The saudis have an extremely similar dish to this which they call 'kabsah'. My mom has been making it for years and now I have taken over. My familiy loves it! however we dont eat it with ketchup, we eat it with the traditional accompaniments of Tomato Salsa, Yoghurt, and Salad. Delicious

From: Russiyah

On Sep 25, 2007

It was good.I liked it.. but I would recommend adding less salt as it was too salty.

From: Aunt Kathy

On Apr 18, 2009

Terrific! Made exactly as directed (including dried limes)and thought is was delicious. Didn't try the ketchup, but I did add a few raisins to the rice at the table. I liked the raisins, my husband didn't. A keeper for sure.

From: Elmotoo

On Feb 24, 2008

Ok.....not having the dried limes, I sliced up 2 regular limes & threw them into the chicken broth. NO idea if the flavors are similar. Everyody LOVED the chicken but the kids didn't like the rice. :? I was shocked. Very easy & very delicious!! Mine wasn't too salty - I used Maggi chicken bouillon cubes. The proportions were all perfect & everything cooked perfectly. I think I'll triple this during the summer for guests. Made for NA*ME Recipe of the Week.

From: UmmBinat

On Oct 5, 2009

4 3/4 stars. This was pretty delicious for DH, DD (toddler) and I. I think the people who leave out the loomi should not star it unless they get 5 stars as I like the flavour given by the loomi. I used homemade chicken stock instead of chicken bullion cubes, extra virgin olive oil, I peeled my tomato before chopping it, added an extra clove garlic, used a sweet curry powder, Julie's Curry Powder Mix as we dont like hot spicy, therefore I did not add the optional cayenne pepper or chili powder. I used as much sea salt as I needed as I do in all recipes I don't go by salt amounts. I cooked this for DH, DD (toddler) and I with half a chicken cut in pieces and 1 1/4 cups white Basmati rice and half the amount of spices. I served this with Cucumber Yoghurt Salad (Labaan Bil Kiyaar) for a wonderful meal. Made for Think Pink Tag.