About this dish
A whole chicken stuffed with spiced rice and slow-cooked overnight on a bed of rice until the bottom turns into a golden crust.
📍 Find the best Tbit near me
AI-powered — Google, TripAdvisor and food blogs
Ingredients
🍗1 whole chicken (about 1.5kg)
🍚3 cups basmati rice, rinsed
🍅3 tbsp tomato paste
🌿2 tsp baharat (Iraqi spice mix), 1 tsp ground cardamom, 1 tsp turmeric
🧅1 onion, chopped
🥚4–6 eggs in their shells, washed (optional)
🫗4 tbsp vegetable oil
🧂Salt
Method
Serves 21
Rub the chicken inside and out with salt, turmeric and half the baharat, then brown it all over in the oil in a large heavy pot. Lift it out.2
Fry the onion in the same pot, stir in the tomato paste and remaining spices, then add the rice and stir to coat.3
Spoon some of the rice into the chicken, sew or skewer it closed, and return the chicken to the pot on top of the remaining rice.4
Add water to come about 3cm above the rice, tuck in the eggs if using, bring to the boil, then cover tightly.5
Cook on the lowest heat overnight (or at 120°C / 250°F in the oven for 6–8 hours) until the rice has a crisp golden base. Serve the chicken on the rice with the crust broken into pieces.✓ What Makes it Authentic
Tbit is the Sabbath dish of the Iraqi Jewish community of Baghdad, put on the stove before sundown on Friday and eaten for Saturday lunch.
User Reviews
No reviews yet — be the first!
Sign in to leave a review
Members can create lists, save favourites and get recommendations.
🌍 Food Vlogs
Eating and cooking it at the source
🌍
No videos yet
What To Eat
The World's Food Guide
© 2026 What To Eat · hello@whattoeat.world