The 20 most famous dishes of Kuwait
Kuwaiti cooking is maritime and mercantile, shaped by India, Persia and Iraq, led by lamb machboos, zubaidi pomfret and murabyan, with sweets of dates and date syrup.
1Lamb Machboos
Kuwait's national dish: basmati rice cooked in lamb stock with spices and dried lime, served with daqoos…
2Mutabbaq Zubaidi
Fried silver pomfret over rice cooked in fish stock with coriander and hashu — Kuwait's most famous fish dish.
3Murabyan (Shrimp Rice)
Rice with small Kuwaiti shrimp, onion, coriander and spices — a beloved seafood rice.
4Kuwaiti Jireesh
Cracked wheat cooked with chicken, tomato and onion, topped with fried onions and ghee.
5Kuwaiti Harees
Wheat and meat beaten until smooth, finished with ghee — in Kuwait many like it sprinkled with sugar and…
6Gabout
Dough dumplings stuffed with spiced mince, cooked in a tomato and vegetable stew — a winter favourite.
7Kuwaiti Marag
A spiced lamb and vegetable stew with dried lime, eaten with white rice or machboos.
8Mumawwash
Rice cooked with mung beans, served with grilled or fried fish.
9Aish Mahammar
Sweet brown rice cooked with caramelised sugar or date syrup, cardamom and saffron, served with fish.
10Dango
Chickpeas boiled with salt and served with cumin, pepper and lemon — a Kuwaiti street snack sold in cups.
11Bajella
Dried broad beans boiled with salt and cumin — a popular Kuwaiti breakfast and snack.
12Nikhi
Chickpeas cooked with onion, tomato, spices and lemon, served hot during Ramadan.
13Darabeel
Paper-thin rolled crisp wafers dusted with sugar and cardamom — a heritage Kuwaiti sweet.
14Khabeesa
Flour toasted in ghee with sugar, saffron and cardamom, served warm with coffee.
15Legaimat
Fried dough balls drizzled with date syrup or sugar syrup — present at every Kuwaiti Ramadan ghabga.
16Grilled Zubaidi
Silver pomfret grilled with turmeric, garlic and lemon, served with sweet brown rice.
17Daqoos (Spicy Tomato Sauce)
A spicy tomato sauce with garlic and coriander — machboos's companion on every Gulf table.
18Kuwaiti Tannour Bread
Long oval bread baked in the tannour and sprinkled with sesame, known in Kuwait as "Iranian bread".
19Kuwaiti Balaleet
Sweet vermicelli with saffron and cardamom topped with egg — an Eid breakfast in Kuwaiti homes.
20Rangina
Walnut-stuffed dates covered with flour toasted in ghee and cardamom.