Recipes with bezar

5 recipes that use bezar, with photos, step-by-step instructions and cook times. The quickest, Jasheed, takes 50 minutes. It is most often cooked with coriander, garlic and onion.

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Jasheed

Jasheed comes from the coastal kitchens of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, where baby shark caught in the shallows was boiled, shredded and fried with heaps of onion and spice, then piled over white rice for lunch. It is dry, fragrant and savoury, a little like a fish keema, with sweet onion and a warmth of turmeric and bezar. At home any firm white fish such as hamour, cod or haddock works perfectly; use shark only where it is legal and sustainably caught. The mistake people make is skipping the squeeze-dry after poaching, so the mixture stews instead of frying. Chef's tip: take your time over the onions, they should be soft and amber before the fish goes in, because they carry the sweetness of the dish.

50 minGulf Arabian Fish

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Maleh

Before refrigeration, fishermen in Ras Al Khaimah and along the coast of the United Arab Emirates packed their surplus catch in salt for weeks, and maleh is still cooked in Emirati homes, especially in winter, with rice and fresh lime. The stew is sharp and deeply savoury, the firm salted fish flaking into a thick onion and tomato gravy warmed with bezar. This home version salts fresh fish in the fridge for 2–3 days, which gives the same firm, briny bite without the long cure; ready-cured maleh from a Gulf grocer is soaked and used in the same way. The mistake people make is forgetting to soak the fish, which leaves the dish too salty to eat. Chef's tip: taste a flake after soaking; it should be pleasantly salty, like an olive, before it goes into the pot.

60 minGulf Arabian Fish

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Margoog

Margoog is a winter one-pot from Qatar and the wider Gulf, where sheets of paper-thin dough are laid over a bubbling stew and cook into soft, silky ribbons that thicken the sauce. In Doha it is traditionally made with lamb on the bone, but this version uses only vegetables: pumpkin, courgette, aubergine and potato in a tomato broth sharpened with dried black lime and warmed with bezar. It is served in a deep platter for everyone to share, with fresh green chilli and onion on the side. The mistake most people make is rolling the dough too thick, which leaves it gummy instead of tender. Chef's tip: dust the dough sheets generously with flour as you lay them in; that flour is what thickens the broth.

115 minGulf Arabian Curries

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Vegetable saloona

Saloona is the stew Emirati families make on an ordinary weekday, ladled over white rice for lunch in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and every town between. Each household has its own mix, but the base is always the same: tomatoes, onions and the local bezar spice blend, sharpened with dried lime and simmered with whatever vegetables are in the fridge. This meat-free pot uses potato, courgette, aubergine, carrot and okra with chickpeas for body, and it tastes even better the next day. Chef's tip: add the okra in the last 10 minutes and leave it whole; cut okra goes slimy in a long simmer.

60 minGulf Arabian Curries

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Vegetable machboos

In Bahrain and Kuwait machboos is the rice dish of the home kitchen: deeper yellow than Saudi kabsa, with more turmeric, more dried lime and a last splash of rose water that perfumes the whole pot. Families cook it for the big midday meal, especially on Fridays and through Ramadan, and pile it high on a round metal tray. Here potatoes, cauliflower and peppers take the place of chicken, and the rice is crowned with hashu, soft caramelised onions with raisins and a pinch of black lime powder. Chef's tip: brown the potatoes and cauliflower before the rice goes in; their golden edges give the meaty depth the chicken usually brings.

90 minGulf Arabian Rice & Grains

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Jasheed

Maleh

Margoog

Vegetable saloona

Vegetable machboos

Goes well with bezar