With the Holy Month of Ramadan just around the corner, the 18^thedition of Sharjah Heritage Days took visitors on a culinary journey to the city of Aden with a live demonstration of a special-occasion Yemeni rice dish–traditionally served to mark celebratory events like weddings or welcome guests during Iftar and Eid.

The preparation of zurbian, a Yemeni dish heavily influenced by the Deccan traditions of India, begins with caramelising large quantities of onions.

Sharing his culinary skills at the traditional cooking corner at the Heritage Crafts Village pavilion at Heart of Sharjah isEssam Nasir Aldanmi– a poet with a deep passion for cooking, and an executive at the Sharjah Institute for Heritage.

While rice is parboiled with a generous amount of cardamom pods, sticks of cinnamon, dried lemon, star anise, bay leaves and other dry spices, tender lamb is cooked separately in a yoghurt-based mixture, together with tomato and ground spices. “Seven spices including turmeric and coriander are mixed together in a ratio that is often a family-held secret, and it is this traditional blend that guarantees the authentic flavour of zurbian,” he says.

The saffron-infused rice is spread out over the meat,lavishly topped with caramelised onions, fried raisins and toasted cashew and almonds, and left to cook in its own steam.

The finishing touch involves an encounter with ‘live’ charcoal and ghee placed in an onion piece on top of the rice. “This smoky aroma gives a new depth of flavour to the dish.”

As Aldanmi opens the lid, an enticing aroma of delicate spices wafts through. The fragrant mounds of rice boast a rich palette of colours – the stark white of the long-grained basmaticontrasts with the vibrant yellow of the saffron-tinged grains and the red stew-soaked rice. Each grain is perfectly spiced while the tender, juicy meat falls off the bone – and the zurbian has just gained a legion of new fans.