Dango
Photo: Maakun · CC BY-SA 3.0

History

Dango is the Emirati street snack that predates the street food label: soaked chickpeas boiled soft, drained, then dressed with cumin, salt, dried chilli and a squeeze of lime while still steaming. The word comes from the Persian for grain, one more marker of the trade that shaped Dubai's kitchen across the Gulf from Bandar Lengeh and Bushehr. It was the food of school gates and majlis gatherings, eaten from newspaper cones, and in Ramadan it appears on the iftar tray alongside soup because it rehydrates and fills without weight. Heritage restaurants in Al Fahidi now serve it in a small bowl as the opening course.

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Common allergens: None typical

Make it at home

Yield Serves 4Hands-on 10 minTotal 1 hr 30 minDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 250g dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
  • 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
  • Half teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 lime, juiced
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil or ghee

Method

  1. Drain the chickpeas, cover with fresh water in a pot and add the bicarbonate of soda. Bring to the boil, skim, then simmer 60 to 80 minutes until soft enough to squash between finger and thumb.
  2. Add the salt in the last 10 minutes of cooking, then drain, keeping a few spoonfuls of the cooking water.
  3. Tip the hot chickpeas into a bowl with the cumin, chilli, pepper and oil and toss hard so the spices coat everything.
  4. Add the lime juice and a splash of the reserved water to loosen, taste for salt and serve warm.

Tip from the editors. Dress them while they are still steaming; cold chickpeas shed the spice mix straight to the bottom of the bowl.

Where to eat dango

Dango in Dubai

Al Khayma Heritage Restaurant & Cafe ★ 4.3

$$ EmiratiAl Fahidi

Al Khayma Heritage Restaurant & Cafe seats diners under a tree in a covered courtyard in Al Fahidi, a Bib Gourmand kitchen cooking rustic Emirati food.

OrderMachboos rice with dango chickpea soup and a plate of luqaimat.

TipBread is baked in view of the courtyard tables, and live music plays in the evening.

Directions

Arabian Tea House ★ 4.3

$$ EmiratiAl Fahidi

Arabian Tea House has poured karak chai and served Emirati breakfasts since 1997 in a courtyard house built in the early 1920s in Al Fahidi, Dubai.

DrinkKarak chai

TipAsk for a courtyard table under the big tree; the Emirati breakfast tray comes with khameer and chebab baked in the house tanoor.

Directions

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