This was my last week cooking for this challenge in my old apartment! It was a little chaotic since I’d started packing already but I’m still happy with the food from Oman I was able to cook. It felt like a while since I had cooked food from a Middle Eastern country and I was happy to return to these flavors.
Oman is located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia, with the Arabian Sea to the southeast and the Gulf of Oman to the northeast.
The region has been inhabited for thousands of years, and for much of that time Oman has been an important trading hub. It developed a maritime empire which was capable of expelling both the Persians and Portuguese when they tried to take possession of Omani land.
Oman is an absolute monarchy led by a sultan, and it is the oldest continuously independent state in the Arab world. From the 17th century, Oman competed with the Portuguese and British empires to gain influence in the region. By the 19th century, Omani influence had reached its peak, extending as far as Iran, Pakistan, and Zanzibar. The country came under the influence of the United Kingdom during the 20th century, and the two countries have enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship.
What Do People Eat in Oman?
Due to Oman’s history as a trading empire, Omani food shows influences from many cuisines including Arab, Pakistani, Iranian, Indian, Asian, Eastern Mediterranean, and African.
Many Omani dishes are based on chicken, fish, or lamb. Pork would be almost unheard of since the majority of the country is Muslim and consuming it is forbidden. Vegetables such as eggplant, tomatoes, and onions are common too but less likely to be the center of a dish.
Rice is a staple ingredient and can be used in main dishes or as a side. Various types of bread, primarily flatbread, are also common as snacks or accompaniments to a main meal.
Omani food is typically seasoned with a wide range of herbs and spices, though it is not often spicy.
Sweets often include aromatic ingredients such as cinnamon, cardamom, and rose water, as well as dried fruit and nuts. These dishes would often be served with coffee, which can be mixed with ground cardamom. Dates are also a common coffee pairing; they are grown throughout Oman and are one of the country’s most important crops.
What I Made
- Shuwa (Lamb and Rice)
- Madrouba (Rice Porridge with Chicken)
- Khabeesa (Sweet Flour, Ghee, and Nut Dessert/Breakfast)
- Khoubz Mardhouf (Date Flatbread)
Scroll down to read about other popular Omani dishes I didn’t make!
Shuwa (Lamb and Rice)
Shuwa is Oman’s national dish; it consists of meat that’s marinated and typically cooked in a pit in the ground. The meat is most often lamb or goat, though beef or camel can also be used. It’s served on a bed of seasoned rice.
For my shuwa, I chose to use lamb shank, and I cooked it in my oven rather than in an underground pit! I started by marinating the lamb in a mixture of garlic, salt, lemon juice, olive oil, nutmeg, cumin, coriander, smoked paprika, black pepper, and turmeric. I was also meant to use hot smoked paprika but since I did not have any, I used a mixture of extra smoked paprika and cayenne pepper. I let the lamb marinate overnight in the fridge.
I wrapped the lamb in foil (banana leaves would have been traditional) and put it in a baking dish. Then I let it bake for a few hours until it was tender.
Meanwhile, I worked on the rice. I started by soaking saffron in warm water, then set it aside.
I sauteéd some onion in olive oil, then added Middle Eastern vermicelli and rice. I stirred in cinnamon, allspice, ground ginger, and the saffron water, then poured in chicken stock. I cooked until the rice was done, and stirred through a little lemon juice at the end.
I thought that this was delicious! I loved the seasoning on the lamb and it went well with the rice. Now that I think about it, I think Middle Eastern rice preparations are my favorite. I don’t love rice but I do really enjoy it when it is seasoned this way.
The recipe I used is from Great British Chefs.
Madrouba (Rice Porridge with Chicken)
This is a porridge made from overcooked rice and chicken seasoned with fragrant spices. I’m a big fan of dishes like this, such as congee, so I knew I wanted to try it.
I started by caramelizing some chopped red onion in ghee. Then I added garlic and tomatoes, as well as dried limes, chicken thigh pieces, salt, turmeric, cumin, coriander, cardamom, ground ginger, black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, cayenne, nutmeg, and water. A lot of different spices went into this dish! I was meant to remove the flesh from the dried limes and put that in the pot, but my dried limes were too dried out to try cutting in half and doing that. Instead, I stabbed them with a knife and let them impart flavor by cooking in the liquid, which is a method I’ve used before and I find it works well.
Once the chicken was cooked through, I stirred in the rice and cooked it for around 1 1/2 hours until it was mushy.
Meanwhile, I fried some sliced red onions in oil until brown. I used the fried onion to garnish my madrouba just before serving.
I have to say that I really loved this! The combination of spices worked very well. I’d definitely make this again.
The recipe I used here is from Saveur.
Khabeesa (Sweet Flour, Ghee, and Nut Dessert/Breakfast)
I was very unsure about making this dish; it was just so different to anything I’d made or eaten before! It’s essentially a mixture of flour, nuts, sugar, and ghee, seasoned with cardamom, saffron, and rose water. But it’s not as simple as just mixing everything together.
First, I mixed saffron, cardamom, rose water, and hot water and let that sit while I worked on the next step.
I made caramel from sugar and a little water, then added two cups of hot water (the recipe didn’t say it had to be hot but I wanted to minimize bubbling and spitting). I stirred until the caramel melted again and added the saffron mixture, then turned off the heat and set the pot aside.
I added all-purpose flour to a large pan and cooked until it darkened a little, then added ghee and mixed. Next, I added the caramel in increments, stirring each time, and then continued to stir. The recipe claimed it would only take seven minutes for the mixture to go from big wet clumps of flour to ‘wet fluffy crumbs’ but it took longer than that for me—probably closer to 15 minutes. I still think the crumbs were a bit too big and wet when I stopped but I was hungry and sick of stirring at that point!
I served the khabeesa with a garnish of chopped pistachios. I thought it tasted quite good but it was very sweet and I could only eat a little at a time. I think it goes well with coffee, milk, or tea.
The recipe I used for this is from Munaty Cooking.
Khoubz Mardhouf (Date Flatbread)
Flatbreads are popular in Oman and there are many varieties. I chose to make this date version which sounded pretty unique to me. The dates aren’t used as a filling, but rather are mixed into the bread dough.
I started by soaking dates in boiling water. Then I put them in the blender with the water from the recipe (coconut milk was also an option but I didn’t want to open a can and not use it all). The recipe actually just said to break up the dates with your hands but I think the blender worked much better!
I added the date/water mixture to a bowl with flour, salt, and ghee, and mixed and kneaded until I created a smooth dough. I let it sit, covered, for about an hour, before moving on.
I divided the dough into balls and rolled them out. I spread them with ghee and folded them to create layers, then repeated this process once more.
I let the dough rest, then rolled out each piece a final time before cooking in a hot pan with a bit of ghee. My first one browned way too fast and I ended up reducing the heat quite a bit to get what I thought was the optimal result.
These were quite good, but the dates didn’t bring as much sweetness as I was expecting. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing though!
The recipe I used is from Dine with Dina.
Other Popular Omani Dishes
- Halwa – this is a sweet dish that is popular throughout the Middle East. I’ve seen it come in a few different forms but a popular Omani version is a mixture of caramel and nuts, thickened to a jelly-like consistency with cornstarch and seasoned with spices such as cardamom and saffron.
- Ragag ma beed wa jibne – a flatbread with egg and cheese filling; I wanted to make this but just couldn’t find the time.
- Mashuai – a whole grilled kingfish, typically served with lemony rice.
Final Thoughts
I didn’t make as much food from Oman as I would have liked but everything I did make was good. My favorite was the madrouba; it was the perfect dish for the cold weather.
Next week, I will be cooking food from Pakistan.