UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: THE FOOD

So, today is my daughter’s last day of being 14 years old. As a treat, one of her friends is coming over to drop off a small gift and hang out in the driveway to chat for a bit. We’ve been taking this pandemic very seriously and doing our part to not be out in public too much or be around other people. My husband is the main one to go out and he takes a lot of precautions in cleaning and disinfecting when he gets back. Needless to say, we don’t go “hang out” with other people or have people over or go anywhere that’s not a gas station or grocery store. So, this is a real treat to see someone other than each other.

Amazing with honey, I want to try it with jam next.

But I’m also making some tasty food from the United Arab Emirates today. The first thing I made was Emirati Khameer. In a bowl, I added in 2 c of all-purpose flour, ½ Tbsp of yeast, 3 Tbsp of sugar, ½ tsp salt, ½ Tbsp baking powder, and ½ tsp of cardamom powder and mixed until it was all consistent. Then I added 2 Tbsp of olive oil and mixed before slowly pouring in ¾ c of warm milk, just enough to make the dough soft yet still slightly sticky. I kneaded it for a few minutes and placed it in a greased bowl to let it rest for about an hour and a half. It should be doubled in size at the end of this. While it was resting, I placed 3 Tbsp of milk in a small bowl and added in ¼ tsp of saffron threads in it and let it soak. It was weird that the milk turned a kind of yellowish color, like eggnog. I preheated my oven to 500ºF when my bread was done resting, and then I divided it into 4 pieces and shaped them into balls. I covered the dough balls until the oven was ready. Then I lightly dusted a work area and rolled each of these balls out into a circle until it was about ¼” thick. I got out two of my wire cooling racks and placed the dough circles on them (I put two circles on each rack) just enough to make indentions on it and then flipped them over. Before I put them in the oven, I brushed the tops with the saffron milk and sprinkled the sesame seeds on top. I just used white sesame seeds, but you can use either black or white (or both). Then I carefully placed the entire cooling rack in the oven on the oven rack and let it bake for about 9 minutes until it was browned on each side. Then I carefully removed the first rack and put in the second one. You can serve these with jam, cheese, or honey, and I chose to use a cinnamon-infused honey. I really liked this. The inside was really soft, and I probably could’ve left it in a few more minutes to make it browner, but otherwise, it was amazing.

So good! It was actually really good with the fresh parsley.

The main dish today is Robeyann Nashif, or Shrimp Fried with Spices. You can either use fresh/raw shrimp or frozen cooked shrimp like I did. Just make sure you clean them the usual way if it’s not already cooked. I fried some onion in a skillet until they were browned and then added in some black pepper, turmeric, garlic cloves, a little bit of lemon zest (in lieu of loomi), cumin, tomato paste, and grate ginger. (I did leave out the curry leaves since it was harder to find.) I stirred everything together for a few minutes before adding in my shrimp and a little water. Turning my heat down to low, I let it simmer for about 10-12 minutes, keeping an eye on the water level. I forgot to get some fresh coriander to garnish, so I garnished with fresh parsley. It seemed a little watery, so I added in a couple teaspoons of cornstarch in it to thicken up the sauce. I really liked this. I thought the spices were perfect; it wasn’t too overpowering at all. Such a simple recipe, it makes the perfect weeknight meal.

Surprise of the night! The chicken in this was really good, and the chickpeas were a nice addition.

And finally to go with this, I also made another “main dish” called Dejaj Tahatah. I cut up some chicken breast tenderloins into small pieces and rubbed them with black pepper, salt, cardamom, and turmeric and let it rest for 15 minutes before browning it and then setting it off to the side. In the same skillet with the same oil, I browned some onion, garlic and lemon zest for a couple minutes before adding in the can of chickpeas (that I drained) and some tomato paste. I removed it from the heat to stir it together and set it off to the side as well. In a separate pot, I brought some salted water to a boil and added in the rice to boil rapidly 8-10 minutes (the rice should be slightly undercooked). Then I turned off the heat, drained the rice and rinsed with cold water. I poured 5 Tbsp of oil into the pot the rice was in, then I added my chicken in the bottom of the pot before adding the rice on top of that. I packed it all down firmly in the pot, and then poured the tomato-chickpea mixture over the top and smoothed it down with a spatula before sprinkling the saffron over the top. Then I covered the top of the pan with a wet cloth and put the lid on top of that. Once everything was secure, I placed it on low heat for about 20 minutes, turning the heat off and letting it sit for 10 minutes until it was set. After stirring everything together when it was done, I really liked this. I was kind of skeptical about it, but it was really pretty good. It might’ve needed a bit more salt, but it was good either way. In fact, I mixed some of my shrimp in with it.

Overall, I really liked this. Excited to have this for lunch tomorrow!

So, this ended how I hoped it would. I’ve heard of the human rights issues in the UAE, but I found out more about their culture and learned of different artists, authors, and musicians who have cultural ties with this country. And that’s the whole point of what I do. I am essentially doing this for me (ok, and my kids) as my own journey to being an armchair discoverer.

Up next: United Kingdom