Qatar Cuisine
by Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar
Early Diet | Staple Food | Traditional Dishes | Machboush: A Recipe
Traditional Qatari Food
Early Diet
The early Qatari diet was a far departure from the fast food outlets scattered throughout Doha today. Being creative with a limited number of ingredients and supplies was a necessity for most families; the use of different spices ensured that the various dishes retained distinct flavors despite having similar content.
Traditional Qatari food is comprised of dishes that reflected the limited agrarian resources available to desert dwellers. The basic ingredients for most dishes are similar and, due to the arid climate, do not include many vegetables. The other major influences to local food, besides the environment, were the main industries in Qatar as well as the traditional trade routes in the Arab world which included South Asia, and especially India.
Staple Dishes
Rice as a main staple of the Qatari diet and its accompaniments were desirable as high energy food that was easily transported and consumed, as, in early Qatari society, most men were pearl divers or shepherds. The amount of travel required by both of these industries, vastly different from today’s largely office based workforce, also necessitated the amount of grain consumed daily, as grain is a stable source of fat and sugar, both of which can be used by the body for endurance.
 Most
of the main dishes are flour or grain based and mixed with a limited
amount of vegetables, mainly tomatoes and onions. Meals consisted of
grains, mostly rice, combined with either fish, meat (commonly referred
to as beef), or chicken. Desserts were comprised of grain and flour,
with oil, fat, and sugar all mixed in.
Traditional Dishes
While many have commented on the popularity of modern restaurants, particularly amongst the youth of Qatar, traditional dishes are still popular, especially during the period of Ramadan. Haris, a dish that requires almost a day of preparation, is eaten daily during the month of fasting. Threed, a combination of bread and vegetables, is known as the Prophet Mohammed’s favorite dish. Below is a list of some of the main stays of Qatari food:
Haris - a dish made with grain and ground meat
Threed - thin bread served with vegetable gravy called salona
Machboush - meat dish served over rice
Briyani - rice and meat dish mixed together in Indian tradition
Salona - vegetable gravy
Gayemat - dessert, sweet sticky pastry in the shape of small balls
Khammafoursh - small cakes
Balalteet - noodles
Recipe for Qatari Machboush
As in most traditional cooking, recipes are used as suggestions or guides rather than explicit instructions to be followed. Most recipes are taught by one cook to another, perhaps elder to younger, and everything from spices to ingredients are included based on availability and/or individual preference. So keep this relaxed attitude in mind and give cooking a la to your taste a try.
Ingredients
- Small green pepper (less green pepper then onions and tomatoes)
- Onions
- Tomatoes
- Dried lemon - know as lemon aswad (black lemon, available in the souq)
- Cloves (not more than three pieces)
- 2 Cinnamon sticks
- Tbsp ebzar - or use ready made mix which includes cumin and pepper
- Salt
- Pepper
- Rice - soaked for at least 30 minutes
- Fish, chicken, or meat
Directions
Fry the onions and tomatoes (or use tomato sauce); sauté both in spices, cloves, cinnamon, ebzar/mix, salt and pepper, and black lemon. The black lemon is the key ingredient which makes this dish different from briyani.
Add meat and brown - cook halfway
Add water and rice (enough water to cook the amount of rice)
Cook together until rice and meat are done and all water is absorbed
Related Links: Qatar Restaurants
Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar was born in Chennai, India but has lived abroad since the age of four. Her life in the United States, China, Costa Rica, and Qatar informs her writing. She has published short stories and articles focusing on the immigrant experience in the United States and abroad. She recently completed a PhD in English literature with a focus on Postcolonial Studies at the University of Florida, USA. While living and writing in Doha, Qatar, Mohana has co-edited two collections of volumes in the Qatar Narratives essay anthology series and founded the Doha Writers' Workshop, a community group for writers of all genres. Readers can keep abreast of her latest projects via her blog at mohanalakshmi.livejournal.com
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