Kuwaiti Spiced Shrimp and Basmati Rice

The Kuwaiti dish called murabyan is a shrimp and rice pilaf fragrant with spices, herbs and alliums. Our simplified version gets richness from a good measure of butter and a savory-sweet flavor foundation from onions that are sautéed until golden. To keep the shrimp plump and tender, we briefly sauté them, then set them aside until the rice is done. We then scatter the shrimp over the rice and allow them to gently finish cooking with the rice’s residual heat. Dried limes called loomi are used to impart a sour, concentrated citrusy flavor to murabyan, but since loomi are difficult to source in the U.S., we finish the dish with fresh lime juice and zest.