Delectable Delights of Abu Dhabi - Savour the mouth-watering flavours of the exotic Gulf city

Nothing says a vibrant Arabian festival like a traditional platter of the delectable Arabian rice dish, Kabsa, which is one of the many unofficial national dishes in the UAE and a frequent sight during Arabian festivals in the peninsula. The UAE isn’t the only nation with their hearts (and taste buds) set on Kabsa; all countries across the Arabian Peninsula also consider the traditional delicacy a national dish, while Yemen basks in the glory of being the creator of the scrumptious dish. What sets Kabsa apart from other rice dishes is its unique culinary technique, where the water used for cooking the chicken is re-used to cook the rice, perfectly infusing all the flavours and spices into the long-grained, yellow-hued rice. While chicken is the most popular choice of meat for the dish, lamb, camel meat, fish, shrimp, truffles, or duck meat are also chosen substitutes.

The classic Arabian stew needs no introduction in the capital city, Abu Dhabi, as well as the rest of the UAE, where it is a home-cooked, everyday meal in many households. The dish’s significance to the nation’s households has made the local classic quite a versatile dish, with virtually no set recipe, where many whip up the dish using whatever ingredients are available at home at the time.

Strolling the metropolitan streets of bustling Abu Dhabi, Luqaimat makes the perfect snack of choice to munch on your saunter. The deep-fried, decadent, and sugar-packed traditional sweet dumplings can be found being served at all cafes, eateries and even at the top restaurants in Abu Dhabi, including the likes offered by properties such as Anantara Eastern Mangroves Abu Dhabi. A luqaimat or two is sure to sate your sweet tooth and appease the foodie in you.

Savoured both as porridge and gruel or even something with a consistency that varies between the two, Harees is a popular breakfast choice and a speciality during the festive season of Ramadan. A mouthful of the satisfying combination of boiled, cracked, or coarsely ground cracked wheat with meat in the morning could only make for a delightful morning in the exotic state of Abu Dhabi.

A traditional Arabian dessert to your traditional Arabian meal — this sweet pudding with sago pearls is one of the many incredible desserts of Arabian cuisine. In its basic form, the widely favoured dessert is a combination of sago pearls, sugar, water, and butter, which is then flavoured with cardamom, saffron, and rosewater and often garnished with walnuts, also making for a treat for the eyes as it is for the tongue.