Skip to content
FriendsPantry

Qatari · Gulf Arab

Madrouba

Non-vegetarian

مضروبة · madrouba

Rice and chicken cooked long and slow with dried lime and warm spices, then beaten with a wooden spoon into a thick, creamy porridge and finished with ghee. Soothing Qatari comfort food, much loved during Ramadan.

Madrouba is a Qatari rice dish, ready in about 1 hour 50 minutes and made with chicken pieces, skin-on and short-grain rice. It serves 6 and is rated easy to cook.

Start cooking
Bowl of madrouba, creamy mashed grain and chicken porridge
Photo: AmnaMF / Wikimedia Commons · CC-BY-SA-4.0
Prep
15 min
Cook
1 h 35 min
Total
1 h 50 min
Serves
6
Level
Easy
Calories
604

Ingredients

6 servings

To finish

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Melt 2 tbsp ghee (opens in a new tab) in a heavy pot and soften the onions (opens in a new tab). Add the garlic (opens in a new tab), chicken and all the spices and turn until coated.

    Food safety: Wash hands after handling raw chicken.

    Onions frying golden in a pan
    How it looks · Photo: Magda Ehlers on Pexels

  2. Step 2

    Add the dried limes (opens in a new tab), tomatoes (opens in a new tab), water and salt. Simmer, covered, until the chicken is tender.

    • 35 min
    • medium-low heat
    A sauce simmering in a pan
    How it looks · Photo: Nanda Mends on Pexels

  3. Step 3

    Lift out the chicken, pull the meat from the bones and return it to the pot with the drained rice. Simmer gently, stirring often, until the rice breaks down completely.

    • 45 min
    • low heat

    Add a little hot water if it gets too thick before the rice is soft.

  4. Step 4

    Beat hard with a wooden spoon or a few pulses of a stick blender until thick and creamy. Fish out the limes, spoon over the melted ghee (opens in a new tab) and scatter with cilantro (opens in a new tab).

    • 5 min
    Fresh herbs scattered over a finished dish
    How it looks · Photo: Klaus Nielsen on Pexels

About this dish

Origin
Qatar · Commonly attributedOften described as a Qatari speciality; also made in Kuwait and Bahrain.Also popular in Kuwait, BahrainMore food from Qatar
Dish
Lunch · Dinner · Rice dishes · Porridge & cereals · Main courses
Cooking method
Simmered, Slow-cooked
Taste
creamy, aromatic / warmly spiced, mild, savoury
Diet
No gluten ingredients · No nut ingredients · High-protein
All labelsNon-vegetarian · No gluten ingredients · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · High-protein
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
One-pot · Child-friendly
Cook more with
Chicken pieces, skin-on · Short-grain rice · Ghee · Onion · Garlic · Cumin
Techniques
Simmering

Allergens

  • Contains: Milkfrom ghee

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

604 kcal per serving

Estimated

1 serving ≈ 584 g · recipe makes 6

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 20%
  • Carbohydrate 35%
  • Fat 45%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g*
Energy604 kcal103 kcal
Protein29.7 g5.1 g
Carbohydrate53 g9.1 g
Net carbohydrate——
Sugars——
Added sugars0 g0 g
Fibre——
Fat29.6 g5.1 g
Saturated fat11.4 g2 g
Trans fat——
Cholesterol123 mg21 mg
Sodium882 mg151 mg
Salt equivalent2.2 g0.4 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
477 mg
Calcium
75 mg
Iron
2.4 mg
Magnesium
59 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
—
Vitamin C
13 mg
Vitamin D
0.3 µg
Vitamin B12
0.4 µg
Folate (DFE)
25 µg

How these numbers were made

  • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
  • *Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
  • Optional ingredients are not included: coriander leaves.
  • Dried lime (loomi): Raw lemon peel used as a stand-in; dried limes are dehydrated whole limes and are used in small amounts for flavour.
  • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
  • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

  • Use short-grain rice: its starch gives the creamy, almost stretchy texture.

Common mistakes

  • Not stirring in the last half hour — the thick porridge catches and scorches on the bottom.

Serve with

  • Serve with a squeeze of lime and a spicy tomato salsa on the side.

Food safety

  • Cool rice dishes quickly and refrigerate within 1 hour.

Storage

  • Keeps 2 days in the fridge; it thickens as it cools.

Reheating

  • Loosen with hot water or stock and stir over low heat until piping hot.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Built from the recipe’s own sections. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

Used in steps 1, 2, 3

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

You might also like