How to Eat as Locals Would in Doha

The Qatari capital, Doha, will be a marvellous city to experience, offering many attractions for visitors. Naturally, during your visit to Doha, you should take the opportunity to savour the local cuisine which is a quintessential part of a cultural experience. You will find that the cuisine of Qatar displays influences from other parts of the Middle East as well as Indian, African and Mediterranean influences as well. To gain a genuine experience of Qatari cuisine, you must eat as a local would and the dishes described below would be among the highlights.

Try machboos

A great choice to commence your experience of Qatari food would be the much-loved machboos, which also happens to be the country’s national dish. Machboos consists of rice prepared with delectable spices and almost any variety of meat or even seafood; these include lamb, chicken, camel, shrimp or fish. This dish is cooked slowly to provide it with plenty of flavour. The meat and seasoned rice are typically accompanied by tomato sauce and salad. Due to the great popularity of this dish, you will find it in almost every restaurant in Doha that serves authentic Qatari foods. You will find that this dish bears a visual resemblance to the Indian biryani too.

Taste saloona

Saloona happens to be a hearty stew that is typically cooked in Qatari homes for dinner. Traditionally this dish will be cooked with whatever available ingredients, but typically it will contain lamb, beef or fish along with vegetables (such as tomatoes, carrots, aubergine and potatoes), ginger and garlic. The aroma of these ingredients is sure to tantalise the diner. This dish should be enjoyed with plenty of bread to take up the rich broth. Saloona will often be cooked when family gatherings take place in Qatar, while many restaurants specialising in Qatari foods will have it on their menu too.

Experience madrouba

Your experience of Qatari foods in Doha would not be complete without trying the very popular madrouba. This dish happens to be a flavoursome rice porridge that can be enjoyed at any time of the day. Madrouba will contain rice, butter, milk, mashed beans, chicken and cardamom; this combination will be cooked for hours till it becomes soft. You are likely to find that each Qatari restaurant will have its own variation of this simple but hearty dish. One of the 5-star hotels in Doha to consider where you could enjoy authentic Qatari cuisine would be the pleasingly located Banana Island Resort Doha by Anantara.

Savour warak enab

Although many countries in the Middle East include stuffed vine leaves in their cuisines, you will find that the Qatari speciality, warak enab, happens to be particularly delicious. This dish will typically feature grape leaves stuffed with minced lamb or beef as well as rice, with pepper, garlic and coriander adding to the flavour. Perfectly prepared warak enab will feature a subtle combination of spices and you will find that this delicacy goes best with slices of lemon. Visitors will also be able to try different varieties of this dish in Qatari restaurants.

Enjoy luqaimat

Qatari cuisine also features its share of desserts and one of the most popular of these would be the exquisite luqaimat; it is particularly popular during the month of Ramadan as well. This food happens to be made with butter, flour, milk, sugar, cardamom and saffron; small dumplings are made with these ingredients, after which they are deep-fried. These little dumplings are then dipped in honey or sugar syrup to make them sweet and flavourful. The best luqaimat should have a crunchy outer layer and a soft inner section. You will also have the chance to enjoy luqaimat in several different flavours too.