Salona
Also: Saloona, Marag · الصالونة
The everyday Emirati stew: a spiced tomato broth with meat, chicken or fish and vegetables.
Story & History
Salona is the first dish of the everyday home kitchen — a flexible stew that shifts with the meat or fish at hand and the season's vegetables. Its signature is the gentle sourness of loomi and the warmth of bzar, always served over white rice; with machboos it forms the pair at the heart of the Emirati lunch.
Occasions
- Everyday lunch
- Always with white rice
Core Ingredients
- Meat, chicken or fish
- Chopped tomato and tomato paste
- Onion, garlic, ginger
- Bzar, loomi, turmeric
- Potato, carrot, marrow
- Green chilli (optional)
Traditional Method Outline
- Sweat onion, garlic and ginger, then bloom the bzar
- Add the meat, then tomato, paste and loomi
- Cover with water and simmer until the meat is tender
- Add vegetables in the final third so they cook through without collapsing
Serving
Ladled over or beside white rice, with daqoos and pickles.
Allergens
- May contain fish (variant)
Recipe by
Documentation
This entry is awaiting review by a specialist chef or heritage expert. It is not presented as a settled reference.
This page is open to corrections. Have something to add or fix?