UAE residents share their favourite recipes to be savoured at Eid celebrations.
Naheed Nafees, Adviser, Pakistan Association Ladies Wing
There are a few dishes without which Eid is incomplete for me. For the last 20 years I have been living in Dubai and every year without fail I prepare these dishes. The zafrani zarda or the zafrani savaiyan is a personal favourite.
This is prepared with vermicelli, sugar, milk and water and we add zafran or saffron for flavour. I also make the Sheer Khurma or Milk Vermicelli, which is a must-have for friends and family. It is made with vermicelli, milk, water, whole cardamoms, pistachios, almonds and raisins and is quite rich.
The Badam ka Halwa is also prepared with crushed nuts, sugar and milk.
I normally have around six or seven families visiting me on Eid day, so I make sure that my sweet dishes are all kept ready.
I also try to make some savouries, such as samosas and shamee kebabs (fine minced mutton steaks) and I try to freeze these couple of days before Eid. So when guests start arriving I simply defrost and fry. For lunch chicken biryani is a must and I make it for the immediate family and serve it with raita or yoghurt dip.
Noor Alzeer, Student, American University of Sharjah
I am a Palestinian, but have been born and raised in the UAE. I love visiting my extended family in Palestine during Eid because it's a lot more fun there. So many people come home and women in the family are busy cooking such amazing dishes.
I always look forward to eating the msakhan, which is almost a cultural delicacy. It's made of bread, which can be baked at home, with lots of chicken, onions and spices sprinkled on top. It tastes and looks very delicious.
The maqloobeh is another dish I really enjoy and this is a standard in all Palestinian homes. Maqloobeh, when translated, means upside down and it can be made in different ways with chicken or lamb. We cook it with rice, cauliflower and chicken, which is all mixed together and flipped upside down before serving.
Here in Dubai we generally go out and eat on the Eid Day, but my mother makes some lovely sweets at home. We love her maamoul, cookies stuffed with dates or pistachios or nuts. My mother also makes the Ghraybeh, rich butter cookies that we simply cannot do without.
Shakira Motan, Consul (Economic), South African Consulate General, Dubai
Eid in Dubai differs from the traditional scenario in South Africa.
In South Africa Eid rituals would start at the crack of dawn, and be a flurry of activities, greeting neighbours, friends and family, and distributing sweets and gifts. We meet friends and family until late at night and catch up with family members we have not seen in months.
There is so much joy radiating from every household on Eid day. In Dubai the pace is more leisurely, and after prayers we usually attend a large gathering of fellow South Africans and enjoy an enormous Eid buffet. The afternoon is reserved for our friends.
The traditional offerings served by many a South African household during Eid include the South-African style biryani, as well as samoosas, sweetmeats and what some call boeber (a hot, sweet milky drink with vermicelli and nuts). It is a tradition to cook biryani on Eid day. Eid would not be Eid without the traditional South African-style biryani.
— As told to Esha Nag, Senior Feature Writer.
