🍚 Muhammar
Muhammar is a sweet Bahraini rice: long-grain rice cooked with date syrup and sugar, scented with saffron, cardamom and rose water, and finished with ghee. The grains turn glossy and amber with a gentle caramel sweetness. It is traditionally served as a side to savoury main dishes.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 300 g basmati rice, rinsed
- 80 ml date syrup
- 40 g sugar
- 1 pinch saffron, soaked in 2 tbsp warm water
- 4 cardamom pods, crushed
- 1 tbsp rose water
- 2 tbsp ghee
- Salt
Method
- Boil the rice in salted water for 6–7 minutes until half-cooked; drain.
- Warm the date syrup, sugar, cardamom and 100 ml water until the sugar dissolves.
- Return the rice to the pot, pour the syrup over and fold gently.
- Drizzle with saffron water, rose water and melted ghee.
- Cover tightly and steam on very low heat for 25 minutes.
How to make it lighter
- Use 1 tbsp ghee instead of 2 (1 tbsp ghee ≈ 110 kcal).
- Skip the added sugar and rely on the date syrup for sweetness.
- Serve a small portion (about 150 g) next to a lean protein and salad.
History
Muhammar is a traditional dish of Bahrain and the wider Gulf coast, where it remains a familiar part of home and festive meals.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →