Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Emirati Harees
An Emirati dish of whole wheat and lamb simmered for hours and beaten to a smooth savoury porridge, finished with ghee.
Emirati · medium · serves 6
prep 20 min · cook 210 min
~374 cal · 28g protein · 0g carbs · 28g fat · 0g fiber · 0g sugars · 14g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Harees is the dish Emiratis point to when asked what Gulf cooking really is, and it is inscribed as part of the region intangible heritage. Whole wheat and bone-in lamb together for hours until the grain collapses and the meat dissolves into a single, deeply savoury porridge.
Patience is the only real technique: the longer it cooks and the harder it is beaten with a wooden pestle, the silkier it becomes. Ladled into bowls and pooled with melted , dusted with cinnamon and cumin, it is a Ramadan and celebration staple across the UAE.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
2 cups whole wheat berries, soaked overnight
1 1/2 lb bone-in lamb, in large pieces
4 tbsp
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cumin
10 cups water
to taste salt
Instructions
1
Cover the lamb with water and bring to a boil, skimming the foam, then simmer gently 1.5 to 2 hours until falling off the bone. Lift out the lamb and shred it, discarding the bones.
2
Return the shredded lamb to the strained broth, add the drained wheat, and simmer over low heat.
3
Cook uncovered, stirring every 10 to 15 minutes, for 1.5 to 2 hours until the wheat has completely broken down.
✎ Chef’s note
If it catches on the bottom, add a ladle of hot water and stir up from the base.
4
Beat the mixture hard with a wooden spoon until it becomes a smooth, unified porridge. Season with salt.
5
Ladle into bowls, pool melted ghee over each serving, and dust with cinnamon and cumin. Serve hot.
Emirati heritage dish.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Dubai. Harees takes patience and a stick. Wheat and meat are cooked together for hours and beaten with a wooden medrab until they collapse into one smooth paste, then finished with ghee. It is Ramadan food, and it sits on Abu Dhabi's register of intangible heritage.
🗺️
United Arab Emirates. Balaleet is the traditional first meal after Ramadan across the Gulf: sweet vermicelli with cardamom, saffron and rosewater, served under a thin savoury omelette, the sweet and the savoury on one plate. The pearl-diving economy that preceded oil is what put dried limes, rice and Indian spice into an otherwise sparse desert pantry.
🌍
Asia. Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, and its food spans the delicate seasonality of Japanese washoku, the chili-fired curries of India and Thailand, and the wheat-and-lamb traditions of Central Asia. Rice, noodles, soy, and fermentation recur across its regions, while ancient spice routes and religious traditions shaped distinct grammars of flavor. Whether from a street-cart wok or a monastery kitchen, eating is deeply communal and ritual-rich.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from United Arab Emirates
BalaleetSweet saffron-and-cardamom vermicelli topped with a thin savory omelette, the Gulf’s sweet-and-savory breakfast.
Emirati SalonaA tangy Emirati stew of meat or fish and vegetables in a spiced tomato-and-dried-lime broth.
Emirati ThareedA spiced meat-and-vegetable stew ladled over thin crisp regag bread, a comforting Emirati dish, especially in Ramadan.
Browse all United Arab Emirates recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Stews and braises keep 3 to 4 days refrigerated and often taste better the next day. Reheat gently, adding a splash of water if it has thickened.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Emirati Harees?
An Emirati dish of whole wheat and lamb simmered for hours and beaten to a smooth savoury porridge, finished with ghee.
Where does Emirati Harees come from?
Emirati Harees is a Emirati dish from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Can Emirati Harees be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Emirati Harees recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Emirati Harees safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Emirati Harees take to make?
About 230 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 210 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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