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Yemeni cuisine (other Arab cuisines may be posted)

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This a terrible thread, I am all in love with Yemen, such beautiful architect and such beautiful landscape !!

and cuisines coming next, please spare me or make a Yemeni woman fall in love with me ! :ashamed:
 
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A short introduction to some of the traditional Yemeni dishes


Starters

Zahaweg Sana'ani: a spicy sauce made from fresh tomatoes, hot green pepper and spices.

Zahaweg Jobn: a spicy sauce made from fresh tomatoes, hot chilly, spices and Yemeni goat cheese.

Shafoot: crepe bread made from millet with yoghurt, mint, hot green pepper and herbs.

Helba: a fondue made from meat bouillon with eggs, rice or vegetables and fenugreek mixed with herbs.

Bent Assahn: pizza pastry covered with honey and black sesame.

Buraik: puff pastry stuffed with minced meat.

Muddabaq: doubled pancake, inside roasted eggs with tomatoes, herbs and spices.

Sabaya: bread covered with honey.


Soups

Shorbat Addas: lentil soup.

Shorbat Khudhar: vegetable soup.

Shorbat Borr: barley soup.

Marag: bouillon made from mutton or goat meat.



Main dishes

Hanid: lamb or goat meat covered with spices and banana leaves and then grilled in clay oven under the earth.

Kabsa: colored spicy rice mixed with lamb meat.

Agdah: lamb meat cooked with vegetables, tomato sauce and spices.

Mohkbazat Sayd: fish covered with a spicy tomato sauce grilled in a clay oven.

Fattah: bread mixed with bouillon, eggs and spices or mixed with dates and bananas.


Vegetable dishes

Foul: Soya beans cooked with tomatoes, onions, garlic, hot green pepper and spices.

Fasuuliah: white or red beans cooked with tomatoes, onions, garlic, hot green pepper and spices.

Mushakkal: mixed vegetables cooked or roasted with tomatoes and spices.

Addas: lentils cooked with tomatoes, onions, garlic and spices.


Breads

Kiddam: a bigger roll made from different types of whole meal flour.

Meluudj: pastry bread made from wheat and millet flour.

Shaeer: pastry bread made from barley flour.

Ruumi: small pastry bread made from maize flour.


The typical kitchen in Yemen makes use of a wide range of spices enhanced by garlic and herbs, especially fresh cilantro and mint.

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The most commonly used spices in Yemeni cuisine are the following:

Chilli peppers, cardamon, cumin, black pepper, coriander, turmeric, cilantro, fenugreek, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, caraway, saffron etc. One famous spice mixture is called Hawaij. A wide range of herbs such as mint is also used.

The main staple drinks is obviously coffee which was first cultivated in Yemen, tea and Qishr a local Yemeni drink that contains spiced coffee husks, ginger and cinnamon. Honey is also very popular to add into various drinks.
Otherwise fruit juices such as lemon, orange, mango and guava are the most popular.

For now I will just cover two dishes in detail specifically rest will just be photos for now:

Saltah

It's basically a meat stew. Considered as one of the national dishes of Yemen although it is mainly eaten in Northern Yemen and thought to be native to Sana'a.
Main ingredients: Maraq, fenugreek, sahawiq (chillies, tomatoes, garlic and herbs), okra and onion.
Rice, potatoes, scrambled eggs and various vegetables are also ordinary additions. Eaten with Yemeni flatbread more or less always.



Samak

Due to Yemen's nearly 2000 km long coastline sea food is very popular in the coastal regions of the country and various sea foods are eaten. One of the them is the fish Samak.



Mandi also known as Haneeth

This is a dish native to Yemen, more precisely the Hadhramaut region. Basmati rice is always used and either lamb or chicken, sometimes mixed and a mixture of spices. The meat is cooked in tandoors which makes the taste special. Raisins, pine nuts etc. are often added. Coconut milk in Southern Yemen as well.






I will just post photos of Yemeni cuisine now since I don't have the time or knowledge to go into the small details with all dishes and it would be very time-consuming.

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Typical breakfast:



That's roasted/grilled sheep liver on the bottom left. Very tasty.

Then there is the famous Yemeni Bint el Sahn which is made from many layers of dough, baked and served with a drizzle of honey on top. It is consumed during the meal as a main dish, not as a desert.

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Obviously I can't post more than 10 photos per post but later I will cover many more dishes and all the shawarma, falafel, kebab, kibbeh and other main dishes. Whether meat or sea food dishes. Or vegetarian. Deserts and the drinks as well. So have patience.

In the meantime I can recommend this page below:

She has covered hundreds of Yemeni dishes with photos and recipes often including videos that show how to make the dishes.

Sheba Yemeni Food & Recipes | Your source for Yemeni food & recipes, ingredients, and unique dishes!

Of course all that is a tiny, tiny introduction to the Yemeni cuisine so far. As everyone can now see then Yemeni cuisine is famous for using many different spices, herbs etc. More than any other cuisine in the ME.
Let me also once again state that I am no expert and I have a flute right now so if any full-blooded Yemeni sees any mistakes then forgive me.:)
 
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Maraq

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Maraq (مرق) is a Yemeni lamb broth soup is always served at the beginning of the meal. It comes with a slice of lemon to squeeze into the soup.

Salads

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Yemeni salad (سلطة مشكل) in general includes lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and carrots. Sometimes there is no dressing on top and other times there is a simple yogurt or tomato dressing. The salad also comes at the beginning of the meal. In the southern parts of Yemen coconut and banana are additions. Eggs, beans, nuts and various of other additions are also used across the country.

Fahsa

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Fahsa (فحسة) is a Yemeni stew made of lamb cutlets into a lamb soup with spices and holba (fenugreek). The pieces of meat are small. It is also eaten traditionally with Yemeni bread, which serves as a utensil to scoop up the food.

Ogda

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Ogda (عقدة), meaning knot, is a stew made from tying and mixing all the ingredients together. There are many types of ogda and it can be made with small pieces of lamb, chicken, or fish that is mixed and cooked together with any vegetables including tomato, carrot, potato, zucchini, etc. This dish is extremely popular among people trying Yemeni food for the first time. It is also eaten traditionally with Yemeni bread, which serves as a utensil to scoop up the food.

Matfaiya

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Matfaiya (مطفاية) is made with large chunks of kingfish in a thick, tomato based sauce with various vegetables and spices.

Zerbian

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Zerbian (زربيان) is a lamb dish made with saffron and various of other spices. The rice, lamb, and spices are all cooked simultaneously in the pot together, unlike mandi, where the rice and meat is cooked separately.It is usually served at special occasions such as weddings. It is similar to Hyderabadi biryani from India.

@chak de INDIA

Hanid
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Hanid (لحم حنيد) is made with lamb or chicken in a tanoor (clay oven filled with hot coals). Gives the meat a distinctive flavor and taste.

Mashwi

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Mashwi (مشوي), meaning grilled or roasted, is the whole fish grilled in the oven and served with lemon slices and various spices and different kind of breads.

Malawah

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Malawah is one of the many kinds of bread eaten in Yemen. What makes this bread unique is that it is layered and folded with butter or ghee inside which makes it very tasty. You will most likely find this bread in the many restaurants in Sana'a, Aden, Hodeidah or other parts of the country. It is not usually made at home but perhaps somewhere they do make it at home. It also usually comes very large in a single or "malawah double" serving and then is folded on the table to keep it from cooling down and getting too crispy.

Some sea food in the southern areas of Yemen

Grilled shrimp, squid and a very wide range of sea food is usually eaten in the coastal regions of Yemen whose coastline is nearly 2000 km long. Spicy and non-spicy sauces such hulba, Yemeni yogurt salad and sahawiq are often added.​

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You are very welcome! Sure, I will take a look at it. I promise.​


Fatta

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Fatta (فتّة‎), meaning crushed or crumbs, is a sort of bread soup made with pieces of the Yemeni bread bits mixed with meat, broth and cooked vegetables making it soggy and mushy. As flatbreads quickly tend to get stiff when exposed to air, it is indeed a way of using stale bread. Fatta can also be made as a dessert with sweet ingredients including dates and honey. In Yemen, fatta is a common meal during the month of Ramadan.
Very often the meat used is grilled lamb meat. Chickpeas, yogurt, oil and butter are also often used.

Sahawiq

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Sahawiq (سحاوق) is similar to Mexican salsa as it is cut up vegetables, with a tomato base usually including peppers, onions, and goat cheese. Consistency of the sauce runs from diced and chunky all the way to pureed, and even the style served at the same restaurant changes daily, sometimes red, sometime green with more emphasis on peppers, sometimes chunkier, sometimes smoother, sometimes with more cheese and sometimes with less. Sahawiq is generally served with the meal as a sauce to add in the soup, salad, stews in the black pots, with the bread (quite like eating chips and salsa), or really anything you like.

Yogurt Salad



Yogurt salad (سلطة خيار باللبن) is another sauce like sahawiq that can go with meat and rice dishes. It is usually made with yogurt, cucumbers and carrots.

Hulba

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Hulba (حلبة, fenugreek in English) is a main ingredient of Yemeni food, particularly in saltah. It has a pretty unique taste.

Khubz

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Khobz (خبز) means bread in Arabic and is a flatbread traditionally baked in a tanner.

Masoob

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Masoob (معصوب ,ملكية) is a sweet and savory banana-based Yemeni dessert made from a base of bananas and ground flatbread with cream, cheese, dates, and honey. It's a very heavy dessert and is best shared with a group! But I really like it.

Sabayah

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Sabayah (بنت الصحن) is layers of pastry with butter in between each layer and Yemeni honey and black sesame seeds on top.

Shakshouka
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Shakshouka (شكشوكة‎‎) is a dish of eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes, chili peppers, onions and potatoes often spiced with cumin. There are many versions that range from looking like normal scrambled eggs with tomato and onion to the poached eggs in the photo above.

Fasolia
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Fasolia (فاصوليا) is a red or white kidney bean dish with tomatoes, onions, and various vegetables and spices.

Qamir
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Qamir (الخمير او المقصفص) is a fried dough sweet from Hadhramaut and it has similar cousins in East Africa, India, and other Arab countries. This sweet can be either sweet or savory. It's usually served during Ramadan along with the sambusa.

To be updated. Notice that this is just a small introduction.

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@al-Hasani
I have tried almost all Saudi and Yemeni dishes, they are nothing like what we have in Jordan and Mesopotamia in general. Our dishes are far more diverse and delicious. :azn:
 
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Qamir
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Qamir (الخمير او المقصفص) is a fried dough sweet from Hadhramaut and it has similar cousins in East Africa, India, and other Arab countries. This sweet can be either sweet or savory. It's usually served during Ramadan along with the sambusa.
This i have tried. This used to come from a somali doctor's home at iftaar. he was doing atakaaf with me some years ago. :D
 
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@al-Hasani
I have tried almost all Saudi and Yemeni dishes, they are nothing like what we have in Jordan and Mesopotamia in general. Our dishes are far more diverse and delicious. :azn:

:tsk:

I politely disagree knowing both cuisines. For me there is not much difference. In fact Yemeni cuisine uses many more spices and "exotic" ingredients and much more sea food than in the Levant. Saudi Arabian cuisine depends a lot on the region. Depending on the region there is a closeness to Levantine, Yemeni or even Iranian. East African and Indian influences too. But overall I rate Yemeni higher than Saudi Arabian.

But we have to remember that those are all Arab cuisines and thus similar and many of the commonly known Arab dishes go again and again in all Arab regions.

For me Yemeni cuisine is without a doubt one of the best and rich Arab cuisines and the most unique due to its richness and many influences (South Asian, East African, Turkish and other Arab countries). Unfortunately it does not get 1% of the exposure Lebanese cuisine gets for instance which is a shame and thus it is unknown for many even Arabs. But too bad for them.:)
 
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we have a lot in common with the ME cuisine. . specially our North Indian food :enjoy:

Actually Yemeni cuisine is the Arab/ME cuisine that is the closest to India due to the ancient trade. Also uses the most spices. So no wonder that I also love South Asian cuisine while most Arabs cannot eat it because it is too hot for them! Especially those outside of the GCC that are not familiar with South Asian cuisine.;)
 
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I have tried almost all Saudi and Yemeni dishes, they are nothing like what we have in Jordan and Mesopotamia in general. Our dishes are far more diverse and delicious.

Start a thread on it :) .


@al-Hasani Great thread . post more pics with food description . And i never knew yemen has such vast sea food dishes . In quite a few Indian dishes if we remove "extra spices" they will be quite similar to yemeni food :) . Post more .
 
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