Saudi Arabian recipe
How to make Saleeg
سليق
The Hejaz, especially Taif
Short, creamy rice cooked slowly in chicken or lamb broth with milk, cardamom and a little mastic, then topped with the roasted meat and a pool of ghee. It is often compared to an Italian risotto.
Ingredients
- 1 chicken (about 1.3 kg), cut into 4 pieces
- 1 onion, halved
- 4 cardamom pods, 1 cinnamon stick, 2 bay leaves and 4 black peppercorns
- 300 g short-grain or medium-grain rice, rinsed
- 500 ml whole milk
- 2 small pieces of mastic, crushed with a pinch of sugar (optional)
- 2 tablespoons butter, and 1 tablespoon ghee to serve
- Salt and ground black pepper
Method
- Put the chicken, onion and whole spices in a pot with 1.5 litres of water and 1 teaspoon of salt. Simmer for 40 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Lift out the chicken and strain and keep the broth.
- Put the rice in a clean pot with about 1 litre of the hot broth. Simmer, stirring often, for 15 minutes.
- Add the milk, the mastic if using, and the butter, and cook gently for another 10 to 15 minutes, stirring, until the rice is very soft and creamy. Add more broth if it gets too thick.
- Meanwhile, brown the chicken pieces under a hot grill or in a pan for a few minutes.
- Spread the rice on a platter, place the chicken on top, drizzle with the ghee and sprinkle with black pepper. Serve with dakkous or a squeeze of lemon.
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In January 2024 saleeg was named the regional dish of the Makkah region. A cook in Taif is said to have opened the first restaurant serving it in 1936.
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