Halal Food Guide: Dubai — South Asian Restaurants and Everyday Eats
Reposted from the web
Summary: Halal Food Guide: Dubai — South Asian Restaurants and Everyday Eats is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Although the UAE is a Gulf Arab country, people from South Asia make up the majority of its population. The account keeps its focus on Dubai Halal Food, South Asian Food, Muslim Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.
Although the UAE is a Gulf Arab country, people from South Asia make up the majority of its population. Currently, over 2.8 million Indians, 1.2 million Pakistanis, and 1 million Bangladeshis live in the UAE, with most of them in the cities of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah.
As a transit hub between the Middle East and South Asia, Dubai has had very close historical ties with South Asia. Many South Asian merchants traveled frequently between Dubai and South Asia as early as the 18th century to trade pearls, and South Asian merchants have long dominated Dubai's gold and textile trade.
After Dubai signed a perpetual truce with Britain in 1853, it came under the administration of British India, used rupees and stamps issued by British India, and grew even closer to South Asia.
After oil was discovered in 1966, a large number of South Asian workers began pouring into Dubai, and at that time, it took three days by ship to travel from Mumbai to Dubai. Most of these workers came from Maharashtra state, where Mumbai is located, and there were also many Arab-descended Indians, a group that had migrated from various parts of the Arab world to India hundreds of years ago.
As Dubai's status as a free trade port rose, its South Asian population increased sharply in the 1970s and 1980s, with most Indians coming from the southernmost states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, while most Pakistanis were Punjabis and Pashtuns.
Some South Asians in Dubai are now second or even third generation, forming a distinct South Asian community in the city. You can find all kinds of South Asian food here.
Bur Dubai Souk
Bur Dubai Souk is the oldest market in Dubai. It has become a hub for South Asians and houses several small South Asian snack shops.
I started at one shop with a classic South Indian breakfast of steamed rice cakes (idli) with lentil stew (sambar) and Indian milk tea.
Idli is a popular savory rice cake in India and northern Sri Lanka. It is made by mixing rice and white lentils with spices, fermenting the batter overnight, and steaming it in molds for 10 to 25 minutes.
Sambar is a lentil stew also popular in South India and Sri Lanka. It represents the long tradition of eating lentils in South India.
In South India, idli served with sambar is a classic breakfast or late-night snack that you can often see at street stalls.
Because of the hot weather in Dubai, the market is almost empty during the day. After night falls, the temperature drops a little and the market starts to get busy.
I ate a fried triangular pastry (samosa) at a shop.
A classic Indian samosa uses a dough made from vegetable oil, melted butter, warm water, salt, and wheat flour. The filling is mashed potatoes, onions, green peas, spices, and green chilies, then it is fried until golden brown. The South Asian samosa, along with the Arab sanbusak, Afghan sambosa, Tajik samboosa, Turkic samsa, and the Somali and Ethiopian sambusa, all come from the Persian word sanbosag.
Persian poetry began praising the samosa as early as the 10th century. This snack was very popular in Iran until the 16th century, but now it is only found in a few areas. In the 13th or 14th century, Central Asian Muslim merchants brought the samosa to South Asia, where it became a favorite of the Delhi Sultanate royal family. A scholar from the Delhi Sultanate wrote in 1300 that princes and nobles enjoyed samosas made with meat, ghee, and onions. In the 14th century, the famous traveler Ibn Battuta visited the court of the Tughlaq dynasty in the Delhi Sultanate. In his book, The Travels of Ibn Battuta, he wrote about eating a stuffed pastry called sambusak at the Sultan's court, which was filled with minced meat, almonds, pistachios, walnuts, and spices.
South Asian buffet
In the old town of Bur Dubai, South Asian restaurants are packed side by side. To try as many dishes as possible, I chose this buffet. It turned out that this restaurant was a great surprise for a solo traveler! I tasted 13 different dishes, and since each one had a name tag, I finally learned what they were.
This buffet cost 25 dirhams, which is about 44 yuan, making it a pretty good deal.
Let's start with the hearty stuff.
Afghan rice pilaf (pulao); this rice is super delicious.
Pilaf (zhuafan) is a way of cooking rice found across Central Asia, South Asia, West Asia, the Caucasus, East Africa, and all the way to the Balkan Peninsula. In English, it is called pilaf, which comes from the Greek word pilafi. This comes from the Turkish word pilav, which comes from the Persian word polow, which comes from the Hindi word pulāo. The original source is the Sanskrit word pulāka, which means a lump of rice. Ancient Indian texts use the words pulao or pallao to describe a dish where rice and meat are cooked together.
The first recipe for pilaf comes from the 10th-century Persian scholar Abu Ali Ibn Sina. He described the pros and cons of different types of pilaf in a medical book. Because of this, most people believe modern pilaf started in Persia and then spread to other places.
The carrot and meat pilaf in the picture below is similar to Xinjiang pilaf, while authentic Indian pilaf includes various vegetables like peas and potatoes.
South Asian chicken rice (biryani) is probably the most popular way to cook rice in South Asia. Biryani comes from South Asian Muslims. It is a Persian loanword in Urdu, and it is generally believed to come from the Persian word for rice, birinj.
Historian Lizzie Collingham says modern biryani likely started in the royal kitchens of the Mughal Empire, where chefs combined spicy Indian rice with Persian pilaf. However, some people believe biryani existed even before the Mughal Empire. Documents from the 16th-century Mughal era mention both biryanis and pulao, but the terms were interchangeable back then. Another historian, Pratibha Karan, thinks biryani formed after Arab traders brought Middle Eastern pilaf to South India.
People generally agree there are three main differences between biryani and Indian pilaf:
1. Biryani uses more spices and has a stronger curry flavor, while Indian pilaf uses almost no spices.
2. Biryani is usually made with two layers of rice covering the meat in the middle, while Indian pilaf is not layered.
3. Biryani is usually made by cooking the rice and meat separately, while Indian pilaf is cooked all together.
Roasted lamb and fried fish, I love roasted lamb!
On the left is chicken tikka. Tikka means 'pieces' and is a marinating style from the Punjab region. Chicken tikka is made by marinating small, boneless chicken pieces in spices and yogurt before roasting. It is basically a boneless version of another South Asian specialty, tandoori chicken.
I am not sure what the mali beti on the right is yet.
Let's have a few more with sauce.
Eat it wrapped in South Asian flatbread (naan).
Dal means 'split' in Sanskrit. In South Asia, it refers to hulled legumes like peas and lentils, which can be eaten dry or with sauce.
Aloo gobi is a South Asian vegetable dish where 'aloo' means potato and 'gobi' means cauliflower. This dish contains a variety of spices. The yellow color mainly comes from turmeric, and it usually includes green onion, ginger, garlic, cilantro, tomatoes, peas, and cumin.
The word 'Palak' in Aloo Palak means spinach, and it is another South Asian vegetarian dish.
Karhi is a thick gravy made with chickpea flour, and it usually includes yogurt.
Kheer is a South Asian rice pudding that is often served during both Hindu and Muslim festivals. The word Kheer likely comes from the Sanskrit word for milk, 'Ksheera'.
Kheer is made from rice, wheat, tapioca, or vermicelli mixed with milk and sugar, and it is flavored with cardamom, raisins, saffron, cashews, pistachios, or almonds.
Korma is a dish made by mixing yogurt (dahi), cream, and water with various spices. It is usually cooked over low heat, allowing the yogurt to blend slowly into the gravy without curdling. The way I had Korma and Kheer served together this time is quite rare.
The word korma is actually an English spelling of the Urdu word qormā, which means to stew or braise. Urdu's qormā, Persian's ghormeh, and Azerbaijani's qovurma all come from the Turkic word qawirma, which means to fry. However, the modern South Asian korma has a completely different meaning than its related words in other regions. It comes from the Mughal Empire's royal court and was a dish the Mughal royals often ate.
Pepper chicken
I ate pepper chicken at a South Asian restaurant.
The bread on the rice is a South Asian snack called poori (or puri). The word comes from the Sanskrit word pūrikā, which means to fry. Poori is usually eaten for breakfast and is also used as food for religious ceremonies.
Poori is made by kneading wheat flour into dough and then frying it in ghee or vegetable oil until it turns golden brown. When frying, the water inside the dough turns into steam and expands, causing the dough to puff up into a round ball. If you poke the dough with a fork before frying, the steam escapes through the holes, making the finished poori flatter.
After the meal, use fennel seeds to freshen your breath.
Cold drinks.
This is a very busy South Asian cold drink shop in Bur Dubai.
I ordered the South Asian specialty ice cream, falooda. Besides rose syrup, sweet basil seeds, jelly, and milk, the most unique part of falooda is the addition of noodles made from wheat, arrowroot, cornstarch, and sago.
Falooda originated in Persia and was brought to India by Muslim merchants between the 16th and 18th centuries, where it developed during the Mughal Empire. Today, falooda is an important part of Pakistani culture and appears at Islamic holidays and all kinds of celebrations.
I ordered a tabakath, a cold drink mixed with avocado, mango, and strawberry, at another South Asian restaurant.
Finally, I will share some scenes from the South Asian community in Dubai.
The biggest thing I noticed in Dubai is that everyone really follows the traffic rules.
Large shopping mall
McDonald's in Dubai
A carousel inside a large shopping mall.
Night view of Bur Dubai
The Dubai Creek ferry in Deira Dubai connects two important South Asian neighborhoods.
Across the river, the area is filled with small South Asian shops.
Clothing malls.
A young man selling clothes.
Summary: Halal Food Guide: Dubai — South Asian Restaurants and Everyday Eats is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Although the UAE is a Gulf Arab country, people from South Asia make up the majority of its population. The account keeps its focus on Dubai Halal Food, South Asian Food, Muslim Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.
Although the UAE is a Gulf Arab country, people from South Asia make up the majority of its population. Currently, over 2.8 million Indians, 1.2 million Pakistanis, and 1 million Bangladeshis live in the UAE, with most of them in the cities of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah.
As a transit hub between the Middle East and South Asia, Dubai has had very close historical ties with South Asia. Many South Asian merchants traveled frequently between Dubai and South Asia as early as the 18th century to trade pearls, and South Asian merchants have long dominated Dubai's gold and textile trade.
After Dubai signed a perpetual truce with Britain in 1853, it came under the administration of British India, used rupees and stamps issued by British India, and grew even closer to South Asia.
After oil was discovered in 1966, a large number of South Asian workers began pouring into Dubai, and at that time, it took three days by ship to travel from Mumbai to Dubai. Most of these workers came from Maharashtra state, where Mumbai is located, and there were also many Arab-descended Indians, a group that had migrated from various parts of the Arab world to India hundreds of years ago.
As Dubai's status as a free trade port rose, its South Asian population increased sharply in the 1970s and 1980s, with most Indians coming from the southernmost states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, while most Pakistanis were Punjabis and Pashtuns.
Some South Asians in Dubai are now second or even third generation, forming a distinct South Asian community in the city. You can find all kinds of South Asian food here.
Bur Dubai Souk
Bur Dubai Souk is the oldest market in Dubai. It has become a hub for South Asians and houses several small South Asian snack shops.
I started at one shop with a classic South Indian breakfast of steamed rice cakes (idli) with lentil stew (sambar) and Indian milk tea.
Idli is a popular savory rice cake in India and northern Sri Lanka. It is made by mixing rice and white lentils with spices, fermenting the batter overnight, and steaming it in molds for 10 to 25 minutes.
Sambar is a lentil stew also popular in South India and Sri Lanka. It represents the long tradition of eating lentils in South India.
In South India, idli served with sambar is a classic breakfast or late-night snack that you can often see at street stalls.
Because of the hot weather in Dubai, the market is almost empty during the day. After night falls, the temperature drops a little and the market starts to get busy.
I ate a fried triangular pastry (samosa) at a shop.
A classic Indian samosa uses a dough made from vegetable oil, melted butter, warm water, salt, and wheat flour. The filling is mashed potatoes, onions, green peas, spices, and green chilies, then it is fried until golden brown. The South Asian samosa, along with the Arab sanbusak, Afghan sambosa, Tajik samboosa, Turkic samsa, and the Somali and Ethiopian sambusa, all come from the Persian word sanbosag.
Persian poetry began praising the samosa as early as the 10th century. This snack was very popular in Iran until the 16th century, but now it is only found in a few areas. In the 13th or 14th century, Central Asian Muslim merchants brought the samosa to South Asia, where it became a favorite of the Delhi Sultanate royal family. A scholar from the Delhi Sultanate wrote in 1300 that princes and nobles enjoyed samosas made with meat, ghee, and onions. In the 14th century, the famous traveler Ibn Battuta visited the court of the Tughlaq dynasty in the Delhi Sultanate. In his book, The Travels of Ibn Battuta, he wrote about eating a stuffed pastry called sambusak at the Sultan's court, which was filled with minced meat, almonds, pistachios, walnuts, and spices.
South Asian buffet
In the old town of Bur Dubai, South Asian restaurants are packed side by side. To try as many dishes as possible, I chose this buffet. It turned out that this restaurant was a great surprise for a solo traveler! I tasted 13 different dishes, and since each one had a name tag, I finally learned what they were.
This buffet cost 25 dirhams, which is about 44 yuan, making it a pretty good deal.
Let's start with the hearty stuff.
Afghan rice pilaf (pulao); this rice is super delicious.
Pilaf (zhuafan) is a way of cooking rice found across Central Asia, South Asia, West Asia, the Caucasus, East Africa, and all the way to the Balkan Peninsula. In English, it is called pilaf, which comes from the Greek word pilafi. This comes from the Turkish word pilav, which comes from the Persian word polow, which comes from the Hindi word pulāo. The original source is the Sanskrit word pulāka, which means a lump of rice. Ancient Indian texts use the words pulao or pallao to describe a dish where rice and meat are cooked together.
The first recipe for pilaf comes from the 10th-century Persian scholar Abu Ali Ibn Sina. He described the pros and cons of different types of pilaf in a medical book. Because of this, most people believe modern pilaf started in Persia and then spread to other places.
The carrot and meat pilaf in the picture below is similar to Xinjiang pilaf, while authentic Indian pilaf includes various vegetables like peas and potatoes.
South Asian chicken rice (biryani) is probably the most popular way to cook rice in South Asia. Biryani comes from South Asian Muslims. It is a Persian loanword in Urdu, and it is generally believed to come from the Persian word for rice, birinj.
Historian Lizzie Collingham says modern biryani likely started in the royal kitchens of the Mughal Empire, where chefs combined spicy Indian rice with Persian pilaf. However, some people believe biryani existed even before the Mughal Empire. Documents from the 16th-century Mughal era mention both biryanis and pulao, but the terms were interchangeable back then. Another historian, Pratibha Karan, thinks biryani formed after Arab traders brought Middle Eastern pilaf to South India.
People generally agree there are three main differences between biryani and Indian pilaf:
1. Biryani uses more spices and has a stronger curry flavor, while Indian pilaf uses almost no spices.
2. Biryani is usually made with two layers of rice covering the meat in the middle, while Indian pilaf is not layered.
3. Biryani is usually made by cooking the rice and meat separately, while Indian pilaf is cooked all together.
Roasted lamb and fried fish, I love roasted lamb!
On the left is chicken tikka. Tikka means 'pieces' and is a marinating style from the Punjab region. Chicken tikka is made by marinating small, boneless chicken pieces in spices and yogurt before roasting. It is basically a boneless version of another South Asian specialty, tandoori chicken.
I am not sure what the mali beti on the right is yet.
Let's have a few more with sauce.
Eat it wrapped in South Asian flatbread (naan).
Dal means 'split' in Sanskrit. In South Asia, it refers to hulled legumes like peas and lentils, which can be eaten dry or with sauce.
Aloo gobi is a South Asian vegetable dish where 'aloo' means potato and 'gobi' means cauliflower. This dish contains a variety of spices. The yellow color mainly comes from turmeric, and it usually includes green onion, ginger, garlic, cilantro, tomatoes, peas, and cumin.
The word 'Palak' in Aloo Palak means spinach, and it is another South Asian vegetarian dish.
Karhi is a thick gravy made with chickpea flour, and it usually includes yogurt.
Kheer is a South Asian rice pudding that is often served during both Hindu and Muslim festivals. The word Kheer likely comes from the Sanskrit word for milk, 'Ksheera'.
Kheer is made from rice, wheat, tapioca, or vermicelli mixed with milk and sugar, and it is flavored with cardamom, raisins, saffron, cashews, pistachios, or almonds.
Korma is a dish made by mixing yogurt (dahi), cream, and water with various spices. It is usually cooked over low heat, allowing the yogurt to blend slowly into the gravy without curdling. The way I had Korma and Kheer served together this time is quite rare.
The word korma is actually an English spelling of the Urdu word qormā, which means to stew or braise. Urdu's qormā, Persian's ghormeh, and Azerbaijani's qovurma all come from the Turkic word qawirma, which means to fry. However, the modern South Asian korma has a completely different meaning than its related words in other regions. It comes from the Mughal Empire's royal court and was a dish the Mughal royals often ate.
Pepper chicken
I ate pepper chicken at a South Asian restaurant.
The bread on the rice is a South Asian snack called poori (or puri). The word comes from the Sanskrit word pūrikā, which means to fry. Poori is usually eaten for breakfast and is also used as food for religious ceremonies.
Poori is made by kneading wheat flour into dough and then frying it in ghee or vegetable oil until it turns golden brown. When frying, the water inside the dough turns into steam and expands, causing the dough to puff up into a round ball. If you poke the dough with a fork before frying, the steam escapes through the holes, making the finished poori flatter.
After the meal, use fennel seeds to freshen your breath.
Cold drinks.
This is a very busy South Asian cold drink shop in Bur Dubai.
I ordered the South Asian specialty ice cream, falooda. Besides rose syrup, sweet basil seeds, jelly, and milk, the most unique part of falooda is the addition of noodles made from wheat, arrowroot, cornstarch, and sago.
Falooda originated in Persia and was brought to India by Muslim merchants between the 16th and 18th centuries, where it developed during the Mughal Empire. Today, falooda is an important part of Pakistani culture and appears at Islamic holidays and all kinds of celebrations.
I ordered a tabakath, a cold drink mixed with avocado, mango, and strawberry, at another South Asian restaurant.
Finally, I will share some scenes from the South Asian community in Dubai.
The biggest thing I noticed in Dubai is that everyone really follows the traffic rules.
Large shopping mall
McDonald's in Dubai
A carousel inside a large shopping mall.
Night view of Bur Dubai
The Dubai Creek ferry in Deira Dubai connects two important South Asian neighborhoods.
Across the river, the area is filled with small South Asian shops.
Clothing malls.
A young man selling clothes.
