Harees
Photo: Krista · CC BY 2.0

History

Harees is boiled cracked wheat mixed with meat, spices and butter, with a consistency between porridge and gruel. The wheat is soaked overnight, then simmered with the meat until the two can be beaten into one mass, and it is garnished with cinnamon, sugar or clarified butter. The dish is recorded in the 10th-century cookbook of Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq and in al-Baghdadi's 13th-century cookbook. In the Gulf states it is commonly eaten in Ramadan, and Emirati homes cook it for the fasting month.

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Common allergens: Gluten, Milk

Make it at home

Yield Serves 6Hands-on 25 minTotal 4 hrDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 400g whole wheat berries or coarse cracked wheat, soaked overnight in cold water
  • 700g lamb or chicken on the bone
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 2 litres water
  • 60g ghee, melted, to finish
  • Ground cinnamon or sugar, to serve

Method

  1. Drain the soaked wheat and put it in a heavy pot with the meat, cinnamon stick, salt and water. Bring to the boil, then lower to a bare simmer.
  2. Cook covered for 3 hours, stirring every 30 minutes and adding hot water whenever the surface looks dry.
  3. Lift out the meat, discard the bones and cinnamon, and shred the meat finely.
  4. Return the meat to the pot and beat hard with a wooden spoon for 10 minutes until the mixture is smooth with no whole grains left.
  5. Check the salt, spoon into a shallow dish and pour the melted ghee over the top. Serve with cinnamon or sugar on the side.

Tip from the editors. A stand mixer with the paddle attachment does the beating in minutes, but work in short bursts or the wheat turns to glue.

Where to eat harees

Harees in Abu Dhabi

Al Mrzab ★ 4.3

$ EmiratiAl Nahyan

Al Mrzab is a Michelin Bib Gourmand Emirati and Kuwaiti restaurant on Airport Road in Abu Dhabi, with majlis seating and photos of old Abu Dhabi on the walls.

OrderThe chicken machboos at about AED 61, then cooked-to-order khanfaroush drizzled with local honey.

TipIt runs on walk-ins and queues, and Michelin advises expecting a wait; seating splits between private cabins, majlis and regular tables.

Directions

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Harees in Dubai

Al Fanar Restaurant & Cafe ★ 4.0

$$ EmiratiAl Seef

Al Fanar Restaurant & Cafe rebuilds 1960s Dubai in its Al Seef dining room, serving machboos and harees the way the UAE ate before towers rose.

OrderLamb machboos with a plate of luqaimat and date syrup to finish.

TipAsk for the terrace, which looks across the creek at the boats and old Dubai.

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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