Hello! I hope that this information will be interesting and useful to you. Getting to know the national cuisine of any country is always attractive. Arabic cuisine is no less interesting. Therefore, today we’ll talk about its features, and I’ll also share a recipe for oriental shawarma.
This is an incredibly tasty, satisfying, appetizing and healthy dish that does not require any special skills to prepare. Visually, Arabic shawarma looks like a thick lavash roll in which the filling is wrapped.
The exotic dish is known primarily as street fast food. It is clear that it is of Asian origin. You immediately imagine a guy of oriental appearance, meat on a vertical rotating stand and the aroma of spices.
Arabic cuisine and its features
An important feature of Arabic cuisine is the abundant use of spices. All food is well seasoned and very spicy. Favorite spices include: turmeric, sesame, coriander, cumin (jeera), cardamom, cinnamon, and various types of peppers.
All of them come from India and Iran and appeared in Emirati cuisine several centuries ago. Besar is considered the national seasoning of the UAE. It is a mixture of cumin, coriander, dill, pepper and cinnamon. All this is actively used in local cuisine.
Dubai has the famous Dubai Spice Souk, which offers an incredible variety of exotic spices and herbs. Like a carpet of jars with rose buds, boxes with all sorts of oriental sweets, mixtures of dried seeds and all kinds of fruits spreads out before your eyes.
Spices for meat, fish and desserts are placed on the counters in large bags to better preserve their aroma. Here you can also buy pepper, bay leaf, orchid root, barberry, and black lemon powder. A trail of aromas of basil, cinnamon, saffron, cloves, pepper and roasted almonds is in the air and will be remembered for a lifetime.
In Emirati cuisine, the leaves of the prosopis plant are widely used as a seasoning. This is a genus of plants in the mimosa family. Trees or shrubs are often thorny, sometimes leafless. There are about 40 species of this plant; it grows in the subtropics and tropics of both hemispheres, mainly in America.
For centuries, the basis of the diet of local residents was fish and seafood. The Persian Gulf is rich in fish. The main dish is fish fried with spices. Seafood prices in the UAE are low, even for lobsters, lobsters, crabs, shrimp, and mussels. In the Emirates there is a chance to inexpensively try seafood delicacies.
Camel milk is now not as popular among indigenous Arabs as it was before, when there was no alternative. It is almost never used in cooking; it is customary to drink it separately.
Rice plays an important role in Emirati cuisine. An interesting fact is that rice does not grow in the UAE, but Arabs have been consuming it for centuries, purchasing it from other countries.
The most commonly used meat is mutton and lamb, less often beef and goat meat. Pork is not used in Emirati cuisine for religious reasons. The main method of preparation is stewing in a pot.
Dates have a special place in the Emirates. The predilection for them is genetic - among the Bedouins these fruits were the main food. Date palms are grown everywhere using irrigation. They are eaten before a meal as an aperitif, and after a meal as an aftertaste. Added to many dishes to add a slightly sweet taste.
Tea and coffee are the main drinks in the UAE. Saffron, mint, cardamom or cinnamon are added to drinks. It is customary to prepare coffee and place it on the table in a special dall coffee pot, and guests pour it themselves.
Dalla is one of the symbols of the traditions and culture of the UAE and is even depicted on the 1 dirham coin. Tourists often buy dallah as a souvenir.
Traditional Emirati cuisine uses its own types of bread. Lavash and pita bread are not directly related to the cuisine of the UAE. Kamir bread is a bun made from yeast dough, usually sweet with the addition of date syrup. Something between our usual bread and a donut. Sometimes kamir is prepared in a flat form, resulting in something similar to pita. UAE residents often cut and stuff kamir with cheese or cooked potatoes.
Chibab bread is pancakes, almost no different from ours. Prepared with the addition of yeast, cardamom and saffron. The name comes from the word “heb”, translated as “turn over”. Pancakes are not made sweet; they are served with honey or syrup to create a dessert dish. Another popular option is with cheese.
Rakak bread is very thin and is cooked on a large surface called tawah. Ingredients: flour, water, salt - something between pita bread and chips. The recipe comes from the Bedouin culinary tradition.
National dishes of the Arabs
Each country has its own national dishes that you must try. The UAE is no exception; the cuisine here is of great interest, it is extremely colorful and rich in delicious masterpieces.
The cuisine of the UAE is unique, and its formation took place in harsh desert conditions and centuries-old confrontation with its closest neighbors. Undoubtedly, the ingredients of Emirati cuisine contain elements inherent to the Bedouins, Indians, Persians and peoples of the Middle East with their own culinary traditions.
A variety of breads and snacks such as meze are made from simple ingredients, from khomos (mashed peas) to ful medames beans (in sauce). The most famous dishes: “al haris” - meat with crushed wheat stewed over fire; "machbus" - a dish of rice and meat; lamb stuffed and roasted on a spit - “huzi”.
Haris is meat with crushed wheat, one of the basic dishes that in the UAE is usually served at celebrations or when receiving guests. It is filling, nutritious, and has a delicate texture, so it suits everyone.
The dish may seem primitive, but you need to know how these people used to live in the merciless conditions of the scorching desert in order to understand that for them it was a luxury. Previously, its preparation was very labor-intensive and took half a day. Nowadays, using modern appliances like a pressure cooker, it can be easily prepared in an hour.
One of the most interesting dishes is balalit, which is eaten for breakfast. It is considered very young in Emirati cuisine, having appeared around 200 years ago when foreign traders brought noodles to the Emirates. The dish consists of two parts. The bottom is salty-sweet noodles, and the top is an omelette, which is made only from eggs.
Machbus is a very popular lunch dish. Reminds us of the familiar pilaf - rice with meat and vegetables. The option with fish is popular in Emirati cuisine, since prices for fish in the UAE are much lower than for meat. For a sharp taste, saffron, cardamom, cumin, and turmeric are added to machbus. A special feature of the Emirati version is the addition of dried lemon, which gives a rich color.
Lukamat is fried flour balls in sweet syrup. The dish is widely known in Mediterranean countries. The special feature of the Emirati version is date syrup. This dish is often found in fast foods, small shops and supermarkets.
Ferid – stewed meat with vegetables: potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini, pumpkin. Then rakak bread is laid down on a deep plate and stewed meat with vegetables is placed on it. All the juice flows down and soaks the bread, which is sometimes replaced with rice.
Arabic shawarma
In the UAE, shawarma is made from fresh, juicy chicken or lamb. It is fried on a special vertical spit, which rotates around its axis and heating elements. Gradually, as it is cooked, the meat is cut off with long knives and falls onto a special tray.
Next, it is finely chopped with a knife into small plates. According to the recipe for real Arab shawarma, thin pita bread is covered with chopped fried meat and fresh vegetable salad, which includes: tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet peppers, lettuce, onions.
The sauce is prepared separately from natural yogurt with the addition of sesame oil and spices. Arabic shawarma does not use store-bought mayonnaise. All the ingredients in this dish are beneficial to the human body.
Lavash is one of the healthiest types of bread, baked from whole grain flour and without the addition of yeast. Fresh meat seasoned with spices is a source of protein. Vegetables and greens contain vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Calorie content can be adjusted during cooking.
Step-by-step shawarma recipe
There are a great variety of shawarma recipes, the main difference is in the use of a set of spices and ingredients for the filling. Real Arabic shawarma is very easy to prepare at home, and most importantly, it does not take much time. I offer a wonderful recipe for oriental shawarma, the basis of which is thin pita bread, marinated and baked chicken meat, and a light yogurt-based sauce.
Step one - the dough for Arabic lavash is prepared very simply: stir salt in flour, pour in vegetable oil and half a glass of boiling water. Knead stiff dough, like dumplings. This dough is enough for 6 fatira (flatbread). You may have to add flour (it all depends on the type and quality). Ingredients:
- wheat flour - 1 cup (10 rubles);
- vegetable oil - 2 tbsp. l.(5 rub.);
- water (hot) - 0.5 cup;
- salt (to taste) - 0.5 tsp.
Divide the dough into pieces the size of a chicken egg. Roll out each into a thin fatira and fry in a dry frying pan on both sides. It is better to immediately put the finished cakes in a bag, otherwise they may dry out.
Step two - cooking the meat: rinse it thoroughly under running water and put it in a colander to drain the water. Prepare spices for marinating. Mix: coriander, cardamom, dry paprika, turmeric, garlic powder, salt, ground black pepper.
Thoroughly rub the spice mixture into the meat, wrap it in cling film and put it in the refrigerator for about 1-2 hours. Mix the meat with olive oil and bake in a preheated oven for about 20 minutes. Product proportions:
- chicken breast 700 g (175 rub.);
- coriander 1 tsp. (2 rubles);
- black pepper and allspice 1 tsp each. (2 rubles);
- cardamom 1 tsp. (2 rubles);
- dried garlic 1 tsp. (2 rubles);
- paprika 1 tsp (2 rubles);
- turmeric 1 tsp (2 rubles);
- salt to taste;
- olive oil (5 rubles).
Let the meat with a brown crispy crust cool slightly and cut into large strips. You need to fry the cooked meat in hot vegetable oil in a frying pan, stirring, for about 15 minutes. The meat is ready for making shawarma, let's start with the sauce.
Pour lemon juice into natural high-fat yogurt without additives (3 tablespoons), add coriander and pepper. The garlic must be thoroughly chopped in any way.
Mix all ingredients thoroughly, add salt and cover with a lid. Proportions: garlic 2 cloves (2 rubles), lemon juice 1 tbsp (20 rubles), coriander and pepper 1 tsp. (2 rubles), yogurt 250 g (75 rubles).
Step four - preparing the filling: peel fresh cucumber and cut into thin strips, tomatoes - into thin rings, red young onion - into half rings, wash the lettuce leaves and dry on a towel.
It will be much tastier if you chop one salted cucumber into the filling along with a fresh cucumber. It will very gently highlight the taste of fried meat with a salad of fresh vegetables. If you want a heartier dish, add fried French fries to the filling.
It can also be cooked on a grill pan or other frying container. You can add or remove spices yourself to suit your taste: ginger, a mixture of peppers, curry, nutmeg, saffron. Salad ingredients:
- tomato 2 pcs. (25 rub.);
- cucumber 2 pcs. (20 rub.);
- red onion 1 pc. (15 rub.);
- lettuce leaves. (20 rub.)
The approximate cost of food for six servings is 384 rubles. Step five: place the round pita bread on a plate and brush with the previously prepared sauce. Then place the dried lettuce leaves. Followed by cucumber slices, chopped tomatoes and fried meat on top.
Carefully roll the pita bread into a tube along with the filling. Then fry the shawarma on both sides in a preheated frying pan for about 2 minutes. Place on a platter and serve hot.
Serve it garnished with pieces of fresh vegetables and herbs. Drinks that go well with shawarma include ayran and several alcoholic drinks: champagne, beer, cider, fruit-flavored wines.
Almond soup
Ingredients
- 70 g almonds
- 4 tbsp. l. bread crumbs
- 250 g broth
- 20 g butter
- salt, black pepper, coriander, dried garlic to taste
Preparation
- Pour boiling water over the nuts. Leave for a quarter of an hour. Then peel them and dry them. Fry in a deep frying pan for 5-7 minutes.
- Grind the roasted almonds. Pour it back into the hot pan. Add semolina and salt. Stir. Fry for 5 minutes. Then add butter. Stir again.
- Pour broth into the pan. Cook everything for up to 10 minutes, but do not bring to a boil. Then add black pepper, as well as coriander and dried garlic.
Serve this soup hot. If desired, decorate it with herbs and crispy croutons. It may be unusual for our people to eat soup without potatoes and carrots, but why not add some variety?
