Bedouin Cuisine CookbookAn insight into Emirati cuisine & compilation of traditional recipes

An Insight into Traditional Emirati Cuisine Emirati cuisine offers a variety of dishes with a distinct identity. Hospitality and generosity are rooted in Emirati culture. Welcoming guests with food is an important part of Emirati customs and traditional recipes have been passed down through the generations from the earliest Bedouin ancestors.

Traditional dishes were influenced by the areas that the Bedouin lived: the mountains, the sea and the desert. People living by the sea had a lot of fish and seafood in their diet while people living in the desert and the mountains included meat and chicken in their diets.

This Bedouin Cuisine Cookbook mainly includes traditional recipes from the people living in the desert.

An OverviewThe first thing you’ll notice is that the food of Dubai isn’t exactly paleo. The cuisine has a particular focus on complex carbohydrates and, as you expect, lots of spices.

This is because, the Emirati ancestors were travelers. Remember, they weren’t coming home to a bustling, international city. They were living in the desert. They needed carbohydrates to nourish and sustain them, providing the necessary energy to traverse over sand dunes for long periods of time without stopping. The spices were supposed to give the food that extra oomph. And for you (the modern day foodie), you’ll see what we mean once you bite in.

At first glance, the Emirati cuisine looks a lot like Indian cuisine. But while the two cultures are closely tied in terms of traditional dishes, a closer look reveals some distinct (and powerful) differences.

A typical day setup is not unlike the Western diet. There are three meals with desserts. Each meal has very different dishes but the themes stay the same.

A Bedouin’s Diet in the Desert As you can imagine it was sometimes very challenging for Bedouin to survive in the desert. The desert can be quite scare with limited resources and they survived on very little food. The Bedouin people of the desert could go for months, subsisting on nothing but dates, animal milk and water. Dates were harvested from palm trees and dried out in the sun and stored as a supply of food for the family and sometimes for the animals.

Livestock like goats and sheep were the major protein in their diets, however these dishes were usually only reserved for special occasions and celebrations. Bedouin relied on trading to get other food sources like bags of wheat, rice, barely, salt, coffee and tea.

Bedouin traditionally ate rice and meat with their fingers while sitting on the ground of traditional majlis (Arabic word for place of sitting). Meals were served on sharing plates placed on round mats made our of palm leaves.

Let’s have a look at some of the traditional Bedouin dishes…

Balaleet (Vermicelli and Egg Omelet)This is about as quintessential for Emirati people as food comes. It’s delicious salty and sweet composure makes it a welcoming way to start the day. Traditionally, it’s served on Eid holidays along with boiled black-eyed peas and boiled garbanzo beans. Cardamom spice is used to tickle your taste buds.

INGREDIENTS (SERVES 8):

225 grams whole wheat capellini pasta

¼ cup sugar

½ teaspoon saffron

7 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 cups canola oil

½ teaspoon ground cardamom

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon curry powder

½ teaspoon black pepper (freshly ground). Add more to taste.

½ teaspoon ground turmeric

2 bay leaves

½ teaspoon rose water

6 eggs, lightly beaten

Kosher salt

INSTRUCTIONS:

I. Boil a large pot of water and add pasta. Cook until half-cooked––should take about 4 minutes. Drain and transfer to another bowl. Add sugar and dissolve. Set aside and in the meantime, star ¼ teaspoon saffron with 2 tablespoons warm water in a small bowl and let it sit for 10 minutes.

II. Heat 3 tablespoon butter and the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add cardamom, cinnamon, pepper, curry powder, bay leaves and turmeric and cook while stirring until it’s fragrant, for about 1 minute. Add pasta and toss until it coats evenly with the spiced butter and spread it into an even layer. Evenly drizzle with the saffron-water mixture and rose water. Cook, without stirring, until it toasts for about 15 minutes. Flip it and continue cooking until the opposite side toasts. Transfer it to a cutting board and cover with foil to keep it warm.

III. Return the skillet to heat and add the remaining butter, the remaining eggs and saffron and cook while stirring gently until an omelet forms for about 5 minutes. Cut the omelet into wedges and serve it over toasted pasta. Serve immediately.

ChebabsNeed a switch from pancakes? Look no further. A chebabs breakfast is an easy-to-make pancake-like dish that goes well with cheese, eggs or date syrup. Here’s how to make it:

INGREDIENTS (SERVES 8):

1kg No. 1 flour

1/2kg No. 2 flour

250g sugar

1 pinch salt

1 pinch cardamom

1 pinch baking powder

½ teaspoon yeast

2 eggs

A few drops lemon yellow color

½ teaspoon vanilla essence

3 teaspoons heaped NIDO milk powder

2 tablespoon oil

1.5 cup water

INSTRUCTIONS:

I. Beat the eggs in, Nido powder, oil, sugar, cardamom, salt, vanilla essence, yellow food color.

II. Add ½ a cup water gradually and beat well for about 4 minutes.

III. Add flour and fold it using your hands.

IV. Add No. 2 flour and beat using your hand. Add ¼ a cup of water.

V. Cover and leave it to rise for an hour.

VI. Put the batter on chebab machine and cook until it turns yellow-brown.

VII. Use date syrup and cream cheese to top it.

VIII. Serve with fruits and other toppings you want.

A Traditional Bedouin Breakfast

Image taken at the Al Marmoom Morning Bedouin Experience Dubai

Lunch and DinnerReady for something more substantial? Let’s talk lunch and dinner.

Typically, lunch and dinner will be a fragrant rice served with some kind of stew. Obviously, spices such as thyme, cardamom and turmeric are a major component of the meal, as with all meals. You’ll also notice such spices in Indian cuisine, so it’s fair to assume their ancestors might have intersected during their travels (again, the cultures are closely tied).

The rice spread could be Biryani, Kabza, Mandhi or even plain rice with meat or chicken curries. Food is prepared based off the number of expected people; so if three people are expected, they’ll make three servings worth of food.

Here are a few lunch/dinner dishes to try:

Lamb Tomato and Green Peas Rice Recipe

INGREDIENTS (SERVES 8):

750g lamb, in big chunks

8 cups water

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

A medium onion

½ teaspoon ground cardamom

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground turmeric

½ teaspoon ground coriander

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 medium tomatoes

1 tin canned green peas

2 tablespoons tomato paste

3 bouillon cubes

2½ cups of basmati rice

INSTRUCTIONS:

I. Boil the lamb chunks in water and remove the froth as it appears. Simmer over low heat until the lamb becomes tender, about 1 ½ hours. Set aside.

II. Heat the vegetable oil in a saucepan. Add and cook the onions over medium heat until they turn golden-brown, about 5 minutes. Add the spices, tomatoes, green peas, bouillon cubes and tomato paste and stir for 2 minutes. Add the cooked lamb with 4 ½ cups of the stock. If the stock isn’t enough, just add water.

III. Add the rice washed and drained rice and stir occasionally. Bring it to a boil and reduce the heat. Cover and simmer until the rice is cooked, about 25 minutes.

IV. Serve.

Harees*

Harees is one of the most popular traditional dishes of the UAE and Arabian Gulf. It is usually served on all occasions, such as weddings and feasts, particularly Ramadan. Before the month of Ramadan, our ancestors used to gather and grind Harees, (wheat grains) using a mortar & pestle. This task used to be time consuming, during which they would sing songs and ballads. Woman usually prepare Harees, while men do the hard task of pummelling.

INGREDIENTS:

1 to 2 kg of Harees (wheat grains)

1 to 2 kg of Beef

Salt (as desired)

Water (as required)

Ghee to pour on top of the Harees

*Source: Sarareed by Khulood Atiq

INSTRUCTIONS:

I. Soak the Harees seeds in water overnight until they soften

II. Wash the meat well and boil until it is almost cooked. Drain the water, add the Harees and some salt to the meat and cook over low heat.

III. Pour the Harees into a Brma (a pot made of clay with a slender top and a wider base)

IV. Put it in the Tanour (kiln) underground for many hours to cook it well until the meat easily separates from the bones.

V. Remove the Brma from the Tanour, pummel the Harees with a wooden Harees spoon.

VI. Remove the bones while pummelling and mixing the Harees

VII. Pour the Harees into a Douri and pour some ghee on top.

Chef’s note: This is an old recipe for Harees, in modern recipes any pot and regular oven can be used to cook the Harees.

Machbous Diyay*

INGREDIENTS:

1 kg of Diyay (chicken)

1 kg of basmati rice

1 potato chopped into big pieces

2 chopped onions

2 garlic cloves

3 to 4 peeled Loumi (dried Lime)

Salt (as desired)

2 tablespoons of chopped coriander

SPICE SEEDS:

1 teaspoon of Emirati spices

1⁄2 teaspoon of turmeric

1⁄2 teaspoon of cumin

1 green chilli pepper (optional)

3 to 4 tablespoons of ghee or oil

2 tablespoons of rose water and saffron

INSTRUCTIONS:

I. Wash the chicken and cut into 2 or 4 pieces, then brown it in a pot with some ghee.

II. Fry the onions with the chicken , then add garlic, Loumi and the spice seeds to this.

III. Add the potato and salt to the pot and continue mixing.

IV. Pour enough water into the pot so that it totally covers the chicken. Cover the pot and simmer over heat until the potato is cooked.

V. Add the soaked rice to the pot and bring it to a boil once again.

VI. Reduce the heat, sprinkle rose water and saffron on top of the rice. Cover the pot and leave it to cook through.

Chef’s note: The dish can also be called Foga Diyay. Serve with pickles or salad for lunch, dinner or Iftar (meal eaten to break the fast during the month of Ramadan).

*Source: Sarareed by Khulood Atiq

Regag Bread

Traditional Arabic bread accompanied many dishes. It can be prepared different ways with egg, cheese, plain or with Mehyawa (red fish sauce).

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp yeast

1 ½ cup water

½ tsp salt

INSTRUCTIONS:

I. Mix all ingredients together and leave the dough for an hour.

II. Heat the pan which is similar to a crepe maker. It is a metallic round shape pan for regag making.

III. Pour the dough into the metallic round shape pan then spread a thin layer.

IV. Remove the regag when it changes to a golden colour

A Traditional Bedouin Dinner Image taken at the Al Marmoom Evevning Bedouin Experience Dubai

DessertTraditionally, Emiratis serve sweet dates before or after meals. From a religious standpoint, this is in homage to Muhammad, but it also was a brilliant culinary decision. Most desserts have dates either as paste or syrup. This gives the dish a light, natural sweetness.

Warning: these are not for the dieter. Emiratis appreciate a substantial dessert, and their robust flavor is well worth the extra calories.

So, for your cheat days, here are a couple of desserts to try:

Luqaimat

INGREDIENTS (SERVES 8):

1/3 cup butter

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla powder

395g sweetened condensed milk

1 ½ cups semolina

1 ½ cups white self-raising flour

¾ cup corn flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ cup ground almonds

Medium piece lemon zest

2 cups oil

2 cups sugar syrup

INSTRUCTIONS:

I. Beat the eggs, butter, vanilla powder and condensed milk in a bowl until well combined.

II. Add self-raising flour, semolina, baking powder, corn flour, lemon zest and almond and beat until it forms smooth dough. Cover with a cling film. Chill for 2 ½ hours.

III. Form small balls of the dough and deep fry in 170°C oil until they turn golden-brown.

IV. Dip the balls into the sugar syrup for about 3 minutes and serve.

Popular SpicesHarees “wheat seeds” CardamomCinnamonCuminSaffron

Dry Lime TurmericCorianderLaurel

Are you looking for an authentic Bedouin cuisine experience in Dubai?Enjoy a traditional Bedouin breakfast or dinner on the Al Marmoom Bedouin Experience. Retrace the footsteps of these desert nomads on a cultural adventure into the past. Try a range of traditional dishes at an authentic Bedouin village and hear stories about the UAE’s fascinating heritage.

Telephone +971 4 440 9827 | www.bedouinexperience.com | info@bedouinexperience.com

Gift set of 21 Traditional UAE recipe cards available for purchase at the

Al Marmoom Bedouin village.