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Making chicken kapama?

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blopez34

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It has been a while since I have made chicken kapama. A recipe I found has me doing a spice rub with cinnamon, cloves, salt, pepper, a pinch of sugar. It seems like an extra step - I am willing to do it if necessary, but in talking to people, I don't think everyone does this step.

I have a friend whose family just browns the chicken in a pan after seasoning the chicken with salt and pepper, then they put cinnamon in the tomato sauce when it simmers. I think at some point on the process they also sauté an onion. This version seems easier than the recipe I found. What do you guys thing?
 
I do that extra step but my recipe doesn't include sugar. I don't cook a lot of sugar. Sometimes I brown the chicken without the spices, though, before proceeding. It always tastes great but does taste a little better when I use the spices.
 
This might be similar to what I am trying to cook. Do people typically use rice or orzo in the dish, or is this a different dish than what I am thinking of?
 
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