I have got to say that my mom has been dishing out some delicious authentic Middle Eastern cuisine this past week while she is in town. I haven’t eaten this much rice in a long time but those calories are so worth it when it comes to mama’s cooking. While she is here, I decided to share with you all these yummy recipes.
One of them is this spiced rice that is actually cooked in the oven! The chicken is also cooked on top of the rice; so it’s a really cool concept that packs a lot of flavor. I also share a simple salsa to be eaten with this dish; you can use it with other rice dishes as well.
Roz Mendi (Spiced Rice With Chicken)
Roz Mendi is a fragrant, oven-baked Middle Eastern rice and chicken dish packed with bold spices like cardamom, cinnamon, biryani spice, and dried limes. Seasoned chicken is slow-roasted right on top of aromatic Basmati rice in one pan, then served with a bright fresh salsa. Perfect for family dinners and special occasions, this authentic Palestinian recipe is easier to make than it looks!
Serves 8 people
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 whole chicken about 4–5 pounds
- 1 tbsp vinegar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 package Sazon seasoning
- 1 –2 tbsp lemon pepper
- Salt to taste
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 –2 tbsp paprika
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 –2 tbsp garlic powder
Rice
- 2 cups Basmati Rice
- 2 tsp salt
- 1½ tbsp biryani spice
- ½ tbsp allspice
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 6 bay leaves
- 8 cardamoms
- 2 dried limes/lemons
- 2 tbsp olive oil or butter
- 3 cups boiling water
Salsa
- 1 tomato
- 1 small onion
- ½ a jalapeño
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 tsp ginger paste or minced ginger
- Salt & pepper to taste
- ½ cup cilantro
- 1½ tbsp olive oil
Instructions
Chicken
- Cut the chicken down the center into halves. Wash well with water. Put it in a salt, lemon juice, olive oil, and vinegar bath to clean for 10–15 minutes. Then rinse again. Set aside in a bowl.
- Season the chicken with the above seasoning on both sides. Rub it all in together and get it under the chicken skin too.
Rice
- Soak the rice in water for 10–15 minutes. Drain, then add all the spices and mix well.
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Place rice in a baking pan (a Pyrex works well). Spread it out. Add 3 cups of boiling water — make sure water is covering the rice. Cover with two layers of aluminum foil. Poke the foil with a toothpick throughout the entire surface.
- Gently place the chicken halves on top of the aluminum that has been poked with holes. Cover with another layer of aluminum foil very well.
- Place in preheated oven for about 1½ hours. Check at 1 hour to see if chicken is cooked. Cooking time depends on size of chicken.
- In the meantime, make the salsa.
Salsa
- Blend all the ingredients together in a food processor for about a minute.
Did you try this recipe?Don’t forget to leave a rating and a review!!
This recipe is absolutely delicious! Every bite of rice is just packed with flavor! It has become my favorite go to recipe when I have family coming over.
Another amazing recipe!!! I will definitely be making it again, even the fussy teenagers loved it. I had to make a few adjustments for spices due to unavailability still turned out perfect 👌🏼
Hi Fariha! Thanks for such a lovely review. I am so happy to hear this!!
Absolutely delicious!!! I’ve tried about 4-5 diff recipes of mendi and it never came out right. This was as my husband said “a major goal” 😂 Alhamdillah