From kabsa to fatteh: what lovers of rice and meat may enjoy in Egyptian food

Kabsa is one of the best-known dishes in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf: rice cooked with meat or chicken and spices, served on a large tray with the meat on top of the rice. It varies from home to home and region to region, and many homes use cardamom, cinnamon, loomi (dried lime) and other spices. The same love of rice and meat runs through other Saudi dishes such as mandi and more, each with its own method and its own fans.

For a broader comparison of the two cuisines, read Egyptian and Saudi cuisine.

The biggest difference you will feel at an Egyptian table:

• In kabsa: rice and meat are one dish, and the rice absorbs the taste of the meat and spices.
• In Egyptian food, usually: rice is served in its own dish next to the casserole or the grills, and everyone helps themselves.
• The exception: dishes like fatteh and stuffed pigeon, where rice and meat share one dish, which is why they come closest to the spirit of kabsa.

Egyptian rice is also usually short-grain, cooking soft and cohesive, unlike the long-grain rice many people know from kabsa. Not better or worse; just a different texture.

If you try one dish, make it fatteh. It has rice, meat and broth, plus two very Egyptian additions:

• Toasted bread at the bottom, soaked in broth.
• Vinegar and garlic sauce, which adds tang and a clear garlic aroma.

So you get the familiar feeling of rice, meat and broth, with a new taste from the vinegar and garlic. On Rokn Warda's menu:

• Beef fatteh: toasted bread, Egyptian rice and beef with vinegar-garlic sauce and broth.
• Lamb shank fatteh: lamb shank, rice and toasted bread with vinegar-garlic sauce and broth.

For the difference between kinds of fatteh read Egyptian fatteh: its types.

If what you love most in kabsa is the tender piece of lamb, try lamb shank with freekeh: lamb shank slow-cooked and served with seasoned freekeh. Freekeh is wheat harvested while still green and then roasted, so it has a light smoky aroma and a nutty, grainy texture. Here, instead of rice, you eat a grain with a stronger taste. If you love jareesh, read Egyptian freekeh and Saudi jareesh, and for the ways lamb shank is served read lamb shank with freekeh and fatteh.

In Egypt, stuffed pigeon is a dish for hosting. The idea is the reverse of kabsa: instead of the meat sitting on the rice, the stuffing is inside the bird, which is browned until golden. On the menu:

• Pigeon stuffed with rice: stuffed with rice, herbs and Egyptian spices and browned to a golden colour.
• Pigeon stuffed with freekeh: stuffed with seasoned freekeh, tender inside and browned outside.

More in stuffed pigeon in Al Khobar.

Much of kabsa's charm is the tray in the middle with everyone around it. Egyptians share that spirit in the tableya: the low wooden table families used to eat around. The menu describes the Rokn Warda platter as grills, stuffed pigeon, shish, sausage, lamb chops, kebab, kofta and tarb with rice. So rice and meat on one tray, but here the meat is grilled over charcoal in its many kinds. Details in the Rokn Warda platter guide.

There is an Egyptian dish not on Rokn Warda's menu that is worth knowing: roz moammar. Rice baked in the oven in a clay pot with milk or cream and ghee; in many country homes it is served with pigeon or meat on special occasions, and the method varies from one governorate to another. We mention it to complete the picture, not because we serve it.

• Start with a dish close to your taste, like fatteh or the platter, then try something a little further, like freekeh.
• The vinegar and garlic sauce in fatteh has a clear taste; if you are not used to it, taste it first.
• Egyptian food is generally not hot; its flavour comes from garlic, cumin and coriander more than chilli.

Is there kabsa at Rokn Warda? No. Rokn Warda is an Egyptian restaurant and the whole menu is Egyptian food. But if you love kabsa, the dishes above are your closest way in, and the full menu is on the menu page.

Is Egyptian rice like kabsa rice? Usually not: Egyptian rice is short-grain and cooks soft and cohesive, while kabsa rice is usually long-grain. On white rice and vermicelli rice read Vermicelli rice or white rice?.

How many dishes should I order for a gathering? It depends on the number of people and their tastes, and we won't give you a figure. Ask about quantity when you order, and each dish's page on the menu shows its details. For large groups and companies there is the events and groups page.

At Rokn Warda on Al Yarmouk Street in Al Khobar, our meat arrives fresh, never frozen and the grills are over charcoal. Order from the menu for delivery in Al Khobar and Dammam, or book a table and come taste the fatteh hot with the family.