United Arab Emirates

Al Machboos

Spiced Rice

UAE's national dish—fragrant rice with meat and dried lime.

Ingredients: 480ml basmati rice, 500g lamb or chicken, 2 onions, fried crispy, Loomi (dried lime), Baharat, turmeric, cinnamon, Rose water, Almonds, raisins.

Preparation: Brown meat with spices and onion. Add loomi and water, simmer until tender. Add rice to broth. Then cook until done. Top with fried onions, nuts, raisins. Finally, sprinkle with rose water.

💡 Pierce the loomi to release more flavor into the dish.

Luqaimat

Sweet Dumplings

Crispy fried dough balls drizzled with date syrup—Emirati street sweet.

Ingredients: 240ml flour, 120ml water, 5ml yeast, Pinch saffron, cardamom, Date syrup (dibs), Sesame seeds.

Preparation: Make batter with flour, water, yeast, spices. Then rest until doubled. Drope spoonfuls into hot oil. Fry until golden and crispy. Then drain, drizzle with date syrup. Finally, sprinkle with sesame.

💡 Batter should be thick but still drop from spoon.

Karak Chai

Spiced Tea

Strong spiced milk tea—UAE's daily ritual.

Ingredients: Black tea (strong), Evaporated milk, Sugar, Cardamom pods, Saffron (optional).

Preparation: Boil water with cardamom. Then add tea, steep strong. Add evaporated milk and sugar. Boil until combined and thick. Then strain into small cups. Last, serve very hot.

💡 Karak means 'strong'—use plenty of tea and let it boil well.

✍️ Author's Note Radim Kaufmann

In a rooftop bar 50 floors above Dubai Marina — with the Palm Jumeirah glittering below and the Burj Khalifa piercing the night sky — I drank a glass of Krug alongside a businessman from Abu Dhabi drinking fresh pomegranate juice. The UAE's relationship with alcohol is pragmatic: Emirati culture is rooted in Islamic hospitality (the gahwa ceremony is exquisite), but the cosmopolitan economy demands world-class dining and drinking. Dubai achieves both without contradiction. The karak chai at 2 AM from a street-side window, meanwhile, is its own kind of luxury.