Recipe
🍳 BREAKFAST
Sakhana
A thick, sweet Omani wheat soup of dates, date molasses and milk, made through Ramadan and eaten after the fast.
Omani · easy · serves 4
prep 10 min · cook 45 min
~379 cal · 9g protein · 82g carbs · 4g fat · 9g fiber · 47g sugars · 2g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Sakhana is the sweet half of a pair. Oman has harees, a thick wheat paste cooked for hours and served savoury with spices, and chicken; sakhana is the same slow-cooked wheat taken the other way, sweetened with and dark date molasses and loosened with milk into something between a soup and a porridge. It belongs to Ramadan above all, and comes out after iftar when the fast is broken.
The method is patience and nothing else. Wheat, whole or cracked, is simmered until the grain gives up and breaks down; the dissolve into it; the dibs, the date molasses that Omani kitchens keep by the jarful, goes in for depth and colour, and milk turns the whole thing pourable. is the usual perfume, and a spoon of is not unwelcome.
It rests on the two things Oman is richest in, and time. Nourishing, dark, and sweet without being cloying, sakhana is what a household reaches for when everyone has been fasting since dawn.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and egg-, nut- 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 4
1 cup cracked wheat
1 cup pitted , chopped
1/3 cup date molasses (dibs)
2 cups milk
1 tsp
a pinch a pinch of salt
5 cups water
Instructions
1
Simmer the cracked wheat in the water until soft, about 35 minutes.
2
Add the dates, the date molasses and the cardamom, and cook until the dates dissolve completely into the wheat.
✎ Chef’s note
The dibs is not optional decoration; it is what makes sakhana dark and gives it the depth that dates alone do not. Omani kitchens keep it by the jar.
3
Mash to a thick, smooth consistency.
4
Stir in the milk and a pinch of salt and cook a few minutes more, loosening with a little water until it pours thickly rather than sitting up like a porridge.
✎ Chef’s note
Sakhana is a soup, not a stiff porridge. It should be spoonable and slack. Think of it as the sweet counterpart to harees, which is the same slow-cooked wheat taken savoury with meat, spices and ghee.
5
Serve warm, with extra dates on the side.
✎ Chef’s note
This is a Ramadan dish above everything. It goes on the table after iftar, when a household that has fasted since dawn wants something sweet, warm and easy to eat.
Muscat tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Muscat. The pantry reads like an Indian Ocean trade list. Cardamom, saffron and cloves go into the rice; loomi, whole limes boiled in brine and dried until they rattle, give a sour and slightly fermented note to soups and stews; and the fish is landed that morning off a coast that looks toward India rather than Arabia.
🗺️
Oman. Oman's kitchen faces the sea rather than the desert. Its sultans ruled Zanzibar from the early nineteenth century and moved the court there, developing the clove plantations that made the islands the world's leading producer, and the traffic ran both ways in rice, spice and technique. The dried lime called loomi, dropped whole into stews, is the shared marker across the whole Gulf.
🌍
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 Oman
Shuwa (Home-Oven Version)Lamb rubbed with date-dark Omani spices, wrapped in banana leaves, and roasted low until it falls apart, Eid on a platter.
Omani MachboosFragrant spiced rice cooked with chicken, dried lime, and saffron, a cornerstone of the Omani and Gulf table.
Omani HalwaA dense, glossy, aromatic sweet of rosewater, saffron, and spices set with ghee and nuts, the pride of Omani hospitality.
Browse all Oman recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Thickens as it sits. Reheat with extra water or milk to loosen, and keep 2 to 3 days refrigerated.
Make it a Oman meal
Qahwa OmaniDrink
Omani HalwaDessert
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Frequently asked questions
What is Sakhana?
A thick, sweet Omani wheat soup of dates, date molasses and milk, made through Ramadan and eaten after the fast.
Where does Sakhana come from?
Sakhana is a Omani dish from Muscat, Oman.
Can Sakhana be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Sakhana 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 Sakhana 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 Sakhana take to make?
About 55 minutes total (10 minutes prep, 45 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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