1.
Saudi Arabia
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Saudi Arabia is bordered by Jordan and Iraq to the north, Kuwait to the northeast, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates to the east, Oman to the southeast and Yemen to the south. It is separated from Israel and Egypt by the Gulf of Aqaba and it is the only nation with both a Red Sea coast and a Persian Gulf coast and most of its terrain consists of arid desert and mountains. The area of modern-day Saudi Arabia formerly consisted of four regions, Hejaz, Najd and parts of Eastern Arabia. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded in 1932 by Ibn Saud and he united the four regions into a single state through a series of conquests beginning in 1902 with the capture of Riyadh, the ancestral home of his family, the House of Saud. Saudi Arabia has since been a monarchy, effectively a hereditary dictatorship governed along Islamic lines. The ultraconservative Wahhabi religious movement within Sunni Islam has been called the predominant feature of Saudi culture, with its global spread largely financed by the oil and gas trade. Saudi Arabia is sometimes called the Land of the Two Holy Mosques in reference to Al-Masjid al-Haram and Al-Masjid an-Nabawi, the state has a total population of 28.7 million, of which 20 million are Saudi nationals and 8 million are foreigners. The states official language is Arabic, petroleum was discovered on 3 March 1938 and followed up by several other finds in the Eastern Province. Saudi Arabia has since become the worlds largest oil producer and exporter, controlling the second largest oil reserves. The kingdom is categorized as a World Bank high-income economy with a high Human Development Index and is the only Arab country to be part of the G-20 major economies. However, the economy of Saudi Arabia is the least diversified in the Gulf Cooperation Council, the state has attracted criticism for its treatment of women and use of capital punishment. Saudi Arabia is an autocracy, has the fourth highest military expenditure in the world. Saudi Arabia is considered a regional and middle power, in addition to the GCC, it is an active member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and OPEC. Following the unification of the Hejaz and Nejd kingdoms, the new state was named al-Mamlakah al-ʻArabīyah as-Suʻūdīyah by royal decree on 23 September 1932 by its founder, Abdulaziz Al Saud. Although this is translated as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in English it literally means the Saudi Arab kingdom. Its inclusion expresses the view that the country is the possession of the royal family. Al Saud is an Arabic name formed by adding the word Al, meaning family of or House of, in the case of the Al Saud, this is the father of the dynastys 18th century founder, Muhammad bin Saud. There is evidence that human habitation in the Arabian Peninsula dates back to about 125,000 years ago
2.
Murtabak
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Murtabak or martabak, also mutabbaq, is a stuffed pancake or pan-fried bread which is commonly found in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Thailand. Depending on the location, the name and ingredients can significantly vary, the name mutabbaq in Arabic means folded. It is a street food in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Murtabak is often described as spicy folded omelette pancake with bits of vegetables and it is the most common form of murtabak, which is egg-filled pancake, sometimes mixed with green onion and minced meat, made from pan fried crepes which being folded and cut to squares. In Indonesia, the Murtabak is one of the most popular foods and is known as martabak. There are two Indonesian versions, a savoury with egg and meat, and a sweet one, in Indonesia, the savoury beaten-egg filled martabak is called martabak telur — to differ it from martabak manis, the sweet martabak folded pancake. The dish is sold throughout the country, with variations in ingredients or cooking styles and has been adopted by Malay Muslim sellers as well. In Yemen, murtabak also usually includes mutton, the word mutabbaq in Arabic means folded. This suggested that Murtabak might be originated from Yemen, which has sizeable Indian population, another theory however, suggested that despite its Arabic-sounding name, it was invented in India instead. Murtabak was brought to Southeast Asia by Tamil Muslim trader, the dish referred to as murtabak is a multi-layered pancake that originated in the state of Kerala where the people referred to as mamaks hail from. The word mutabar is the name for the particular dish referred to in other languages. Mutabar is an amalgam of two words, muta and bar, a form of the word barota, or bratha roti. The bread base or pancake on which it is spread over is referred to in Hindi as pratha roti or pratha. There are similar versions of the bread in places such as Yemen and other regions of the Arabic world, however, the word mutabar is the original name for the egg, chilli, and onion flavoured multi-layered pancake. In countries where martabak is widely available, it is so common it has become an everyday dish, sometimes martabaki - especially sweet - go on sale in stores already in finished form. There are many varieties of Martabak, for example, in Brunei, most martabaks are usually not stuffed, instead it is only made of dough, similar to Indian Paratha. Martabak kosong consists of a dough that is kneaded and prepared similarly to a pancake or other martabak by tossing it into the air. In Singapore and Malaysia, the murtabaks are usually filled with beef, chicken or mutton and served with a curry sauce, and cucumber in ketchup
3.
Wheat
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Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region but now cultivated worldwide. In 2016, world production of wheat was 749 million tonnes, making it the second most-produced cereal after maize, since 1960, world production of wheat and other grain crops has tripled and is expected to grow further through the middle of the 21st Century. This grain is grown on land area than any other commercial food. World trade in wheat is greater than for all other crops combined, globally, wheat is the leading source of vegetal protein in human food, having a protein content of about 13%, which is relatively high compared to other major cereals and staple foods. The archaeological record suggests that wheat was first cultivated in the regions of the Fertile Crescent around 9600 BCE. In a small part of the population, gluten – the major part of wheat protein – can trigger coeliac disease, non-coeliac gluten sensitivity, gluten ataxia. Cultivation and repeated harvesting and sowing of the grains of wild grasses led to the creation of domestic strains, in domesticated wheat, grains are larger, and the seeds remain attached to the ear by a toughened rachis during harvesting. In wild strains, a more fragile rachis allows the ear to easily shatter, as the traits that improve wheat as a food source also involve the loss of the plants natural seed dispersal mechanisms, highly domesticated strains of wheat cannot survive in the wild. Cultivation of wheat began to spread beyond the Fertile Crescent after about 8000 BCE, jared Diamond traces the spread of cultivated emmer wheat starting in the Fertile Crescent sometime before 8800 BCE. Archaeological analysis of wild emmer indicates that it was first cultivated in the southern Levant with finds dating back as far as 9600 BCE, Genetic analysis of wild einkorn wheat suggests that it was first grown in the Karacadag Mountains in southeastern Turkey. Dated archeological remains of wheat in settlement sites near this region, including those at Abu Hureyra in Syria. With the anomalous exception of two grains from Iraq ed-Dubb, the earliest carbon-14 date for einkorn wheat remains at Abu Hureyra is 7800 to 7500 years BCE. Remains of harvested emmer from several sites near the Karacadag Range have been dated to between 8600 and 8400 BCE, that is, in the Neolithic period and these remains were dated by Willem van Zeist and his assistant Johanna Bakker-Heeres to 8800 BCE. They also concluded that the settlers of Tell Aswad did not develop this form of emmer themselves, the cultivation of emmer reached Greece, Cyprus and India by 6500 BCE, Egypt shortly after 6000 BCE, and Germany and Spain by 5000 BCE. The early Egyptians were developers of bread and the use of the oven, by 3000 BCE, wheat had reached the British Isles and Scandinavia. A millennium later it reached China, the oldest evidence for hexaploid wheat has been confirmed through DNA analysis of wheat seeds, dating to around 6400-6200 BCE, recovered from Çatalhöyük. The first identifiable bread wheat with sufficient gluten for yeasted breads has been identified using DNA analysis in samples from a dating to approximately 1350 BCE at Assiros in Macedonia. From Asia, wheat continued to spread throughout Europe, in the British Isles, wheat straw was used for roofing in the Bronze Age, and was in common use until the late 19th century
4.
Rice
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Rice is the seed of the grass species Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima. As a cereal grain, it is the most widely consumed staple food for a part of the worlds human population. It is the agricultural commodity with the third-highest worldwide production, after sugarcane and maize, wild rice, from which the crop was developed, may have its native range in Australia. Chinese legends attribute the domestication of rice to Shennong, the emperor of China. Genetic evidence has shown that rice originates from a single domestication 8, previously, archaeological evidence had suggested that rice was domesticated in the Yangtze River valley region in China. From East Asia, rice was spread to Southeast and South Asia, Rice was introduced to Europe through Western Asia, and to the Americas through European colonization. There are many varieties of rice and culinary preferences tend to vary regionally, in some areas such as the Far East or Spain, there is a preference for softer and stickier varieties. Rice, a monocot, is grown as an annual plant, although in tropical areas it can survive as a perennial. The rice plant can grow to 1–1.8 m tall, occasionally more depending on the variety and it has long, slender leaves 50–100 cm long and 2–2.5 cm broad. The small wind-pollinated flowers are produced in a branched arching to pendulous inflorescence 30–50 cm long, the edible seed is a grain 5–12 mm long and 2–3 mm thick. Rice cultivation is well-suited to countries and regions with low costs and high rainfall, as it is labor-intensive to cultivate. However, rice can be grown practically anywhere, even on a hill or mountain area with the use of water-controlling terrace systems. Although its parent species are native to Asia and certain parts of Africa, centuries of trade, the traditional method for cultivating rice is flooding the fields while, or after, setting the young seedlings. The name wild rice is used for species of the genera Zizania and Porteresia. The Greek word is the source of all European words, the origin of the Greek word is unclear. It is sometimes held to be from the Tamil word அரிசி, however, Krishnamurti disagrees with the notion that Old Tamil arici is the source of the Greek term, and proposes that it was borrowed from descendants of Proto-Dravidian *wariñci instead. The varieties of rice are typically classified as long-, medium-, the grains of long-grain rice tend to remain intact after cooking, medium-grain rice becomes more sticky. Medium-grain rice is used for dishes, for risotto in Italy
5.
Lamb and mutton
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Lamb, hogget, and mutton are the meat of domestic sheep at different ages. A sheep in its first year is called a lamb, the meat of a juvenile sheep older than one year is hogget, outside North America this is also a term for the living animal. The meat of a sheep is mutton, a term only used for the meat. The term mutton is almost always used to refer to meat in the Indian subcontinent. Lamb is the most expensive of the three types, and in recent decades sheep meat is increasingly only retailed as lamb, sometimes stretching the accepted distinctions given above. The stronger-tasting mutton is now hard to find in many areas, in Australia, the term prime lamb is often used to refer to lambs raised for meat. The definitions for lamb, hogget and mutton vary considerably between countries, younger lambs are smaller and more tender. Mutton is meat from a sheep over two old, and has less tender flesh. In general, the darker the colour, the older the animal, baby lamb meat will be pale pink, while regular lamb is pinkish-red. Lamb — a young sheep under 12 months of age which does not have any permanent incisor teeth in wear, hogget — A term for a sheep of either sex having no more than two permanent incisors in wear, or its meat. Still common in farming usage, it is now rare as a domestic or retail term for the meat, Much of the lamb sold in the UK is hogget to an Antipodean farmer. Mutton — a female or castrated male sheep having more than two permanent incisors in wear, under United States law, lamb is defined in terms of mutton, The term lamb means meat, other than mutton, produced from sheep. Under current federal regulations, only the lamb is used, Lamb — ovine animals of any age, including ewes and rams The terms mutton. Nevertheless, the use of lamb in the United States may be confusing. Under the previous definition, lamb meant meat, other than mutton, the term mutton is applied to goat meat in most of these countries, and the goat population has been rising. For example, mutton-curry is always made from goat meat and it is estimated that over one-third of the goat population is slaughtered every year and sold as mutton. The flavour and texture of milk-fed lamb when grilled or roasted is generally thought to be finer than that of older lamb, the areas in northern Spain where this can be found include Asturias, Cantabria, Castile and León, and La Rioja. Milk-fed lambs are prized for Easter in Greece, when they are roasted on a spit
6.
Chicken
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The chicken is a type of domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the red junglefowl. It is one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, humans keep chickens primarily as a source of food, consuming both their meat and their eggs. From India, the chicken was imported to Lydia in western Asia Minor. In the UK and Ireland adult male chickens over the age of one year are known as cocks, whereas in America, Australia. Males less than a year old are cockerels, females over a year old are known as hens and younger females as pullets although in the egg-laying industry, a pullet becomes a hen when she begins to lay eggs at 16 to 20 weeks of age. In Australia and New Zealand, there is a generic term chook /ˈtʃʊk/ to describe all ages, the young are called chicks and the meat is called chicken. Chicken originally referred to domestic fowl. The species as a whole was then called domestic fowl, or just fowl. This use of chicken survives in the phrase Hen and Chickens, sometimes used as a British public house or theatre name, the word chicken is sometimes erroneously construed to mean females exclusively, despite the term hen for females being in wide circulation. In the Deep South of the United States chickens are also referred to by the slang term yardbird, in the wild, they often scratch at the soil to search for seeds, insects and even animals as large as lizards, small snakes or young mice. Chickens may live for five to ten years, depending on the breed, the worlds oldest chicken was a hen which died of heart failure at the age of 16 according to Guinness World Records. However, in some breeds, such as the Sebright chicken, the rooster has only slightly pointed neck feathers, the identification can be made by looking at the comb, or eventually from the development of spurs on the males legs. Adult chickens have a fleshy crest on their heads called a comb, or cockscomb, collectively, these and other fleshy protuberances on the head and throat are called caruncles. Both the adult male and female have wattles and combs, a muff or beard is a mutation found in several chicken breeds which causes extra feathering under the chickens face, giving the appearance of a beard. Domestic chickens are not capable of long distance flight, although birds are generally capable of flying for short distances. Chickens may occasionally fly briefly to explore their surroundings, but generally do so only to flee perceived danger, Chickens are gregarious birds and live together in flocks. They have an approach to the incubation of eggs and raising of young. Individual chickens in a flock will dominate others, establishing an order, with dominant individuals having priority for food access
7.
Yogurt
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Yogurt, yoghurt, or yoghourt is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yogurt are known as yogurt cultures, fermentation of lactose by these bacteria produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to give yogurt its texture and characteristic tart flavor. Cows milk is available worldwide, and, as such, is the milk most commonly used to make yogurt. Milk from water buffalo, goats, ewes, mares, camels, milk used may be homogenized or not, both types may be used, with substantially different results. In North America, yogurt is plain, sweetened, or sweetened and flavoured with fruit, vanilla, coffee. Yogurt is produced using a culture of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp, in addition, other lactobacilli and bifidobacteria are also sometimes added during or after culturing yogurt. To produce yogurt, milk is first heated, usually to about 85 °C, after heating, the milk is allowed to cool to about 45 °C. The bacterial culture is mixed in, and a temperature of 45 °C is maintained for four to twelve hours to allow fermentation. The word is derived from Turkish, yoğurt, and is related to the verb yoğurmak, to knead, or to be curdled or coagulated. It may be related to yoğun, meaning thick or dense, the sound ğ was traditionally rendered as gh in transliterations of Turkish from around 1615-1625. In English, there are variations of the spelling of the word, including yogurt. Yogurt is common only in the United States, and Yoghurt mostly used elsewhere, yogourt is often used in Canada, as the spelling is the same in English and French. Analysis of the L. delbrueckii subsp, bulgaricus genome indicates that the bacterium may have originated on the surface of a plant. Milk may have become spontaneously and unintentionally exposed to it through contact with plants, the origins of yogurt are unknown, but it is thought to have been invented in Mesopotamia around 5000 BC. In ancient Indian records, the combination of yogurt and honey is called the food of the gods, Persian traditions hold that Abraham owed his fecundity and longevity to the regular ingestion of yogurt. The cuisine of ancient Greece included a product known as oxygala which is believed to have been a form of yogurt. Galen mentioned that oxygala was consumed with honey, similar to the way thickened Greek yogurt is eaten today, the oldest writings mentioning yogurt are attributed to Pliny the Elder, who remarked that certain barbarous nations knew how to thicken the milk into a substance with an agreeable acidity. The use of yogurt by medieval Turks is recorded in the books Diwan Lughat al-Turk by Mahmud Kashgari, both texts mention the word yogurt in different sections and describe its use by nomadic Turks
8.
Potato
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The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial nightshade Solanum tuberosum. The word potato may refer either to the plant itself or to the edible tuber, in the Andes, where the species is indigenous, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species. Potatoes were introduced to Europe in the half of the 16th century by the Spanish. It is the worlds fourth-largest food crop, following maize, wheat, the green leaves and green skins of tubers exposed to the light are toxic. Wild potato species can be throughout the Americas from the United States to southern Chile. Following centuries of breeding, there are now over a thousand different types of potatoes. However, the importance of the potato is variable and changing rapidly. As of 2007 China led the world in production, and nearly a third of the worlds potatoes were harvested in China. The English word potato comes from Spanish patata, the Spanish Royal Academy says the Spanish word is a compound of the Taíno batata and the Quechua papa. The 16th-century English herbalist John Gerard used the terms bastard potatoes and Virginia potatoes for this species, potatoes are occasionally referred to as Irish potatoes or white potatoes in the United States, to distinguish them from sweet potatoes. The name spud for a small potato comes from the digging of soil prior to the planting of potatoes, the word spud traces back to the 16th century. It subsequently transferred over to a variety of digging tools, around 1845, the name transferred to the tuber itself. It was Mario Peis 1949 The Story of Language that can be blamed for the false origin. Pei writes, the potato, for its part, was in disrepute some centuries ago, some Englishmen who did not fancy potatoes formed a Society for the Prevention of Unwholesome Diet. The initials of the words in this title gave rise to spud. Like most other pre-20th century acronymic origins, this is false, Potato plants are herbaceous perennials that grow about 60 cm high, depending on variety, with the leaves dying back after flowering, fruiting and tuber formation. They bear white, pink, red, blue, or purple flowers with yellow stamens, in general, the tubers of varieties with white flowers have white skins, while those of varieties with colored flowers tend to have pinkish skins. Potatoes are mostly cross-pollinated by insects such as bumblebees, which carry pollen from other potato plants, tubers form in response to decreasing day length, although this tendency has been minimized in commercial varieties
9.
Harissa
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It is most closely associated with Tunisia, Libya, Algeria and Morocco. As with the European cuisine, chili peppers were imported into Maghrebian cuisine via the Columbian Exchange, recipes for harissa vary according to the household and region. Variations can include the addition of cumin, red peppers, garlic, coriander, in Saharan regions, harissa can have a smoky flavor. Prepared harissa is also sold in jars, cans, bottles, tubes, plastic bags, harissa is sometimes described as Tunisias main condiment, even the national condiment of Tunisia, or at least as the hallmark of Tunisias fish and meat dishes. In Tunisia, harissa is used as an ingredient in a meat or fish stew with vegetables and it is also used for lablabi, a chickpea soup usually eaten for breakfast. In Algeria, harissa is commonly added to soups, stews, harissa paste can also be used as a rub for meat or eggplants. In Israel, harissa is a topping for sabich and shawarma. Tunisia is the biggest exporter of pre-made harissa, in 2006, the Tunisian production of harissa was 22,000 tonnes, incorporating about 40,000 tonnes of peppers. Tunisian harissa is made with chilis grown around Nabeul and Gabès. Another significant producer is Algerias Annaba Province, which is also a significant consumer
10.
Samosa
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A samosa, or samoosa, is a fried or baked dish with a savoury filling, such as spiced potatoes, onions, peas, lentils, macaroni or noodles. Pine nuts can also be added and its size and consistency may vary, but typically it is distinctly triangular or tetrahedral in shape. Indian samosas are usually vegetarian, and often accompanied by a mint chutney, due to cultural diffusion and emigration from these areas, samosas in todays world are also prepared in other regions. Samosa is generally used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, in eastern India, a similar dish is called Singara, Bengali, সিঙাড়া shingara, Sylheti, সিঙারা shingara sing-ra in Assamese, Odia, ଶିଙ୍ଗଡା shingada. Thambutha in Template, Kikuyu The word samosa can be traced to the sanbosag, while they are currently referred to as sambusak in the Arabic-speaking world, Medieval Arabic recipe books sometimes spell it sambusaj. The samosa is claimed to have originated in the Middle East prior to the 10th century, abolfazl Beyhaqi, an Iranian historian, mentioned it in his history, Tarikh-e Beyhaghi. Samosas were introduced to the Indian subcontinent in the 13th or 14th century by traders from Central Asia. Amir Khusro, a scholar and the poet of the Delhi Sultanate, wrote in around 1300 that the princes and nobles enjoyed the samosa prepared from meat, ghee, onion. The Ain-i-Akbari, a 16th-century Mughal document, mentions the recipe for qutab, regions where the dish serves as a staple of local cuisine have different ways of preparing it. Samosas were brought to India by various Muslim merchants, and patronized under various Islamic dynasties in the region, Samosas from South Asia are now world renowned, and are probably the most popular type of Samosas globally. The samosa contains Wheat flour or maida flour shell stuffed with filling, generally a mixture of mashed boiled potato, onions, green peas, spices. The entire pastry is then deep-fried to a brown color. It is served hot and is eaten with fresh Indian chutney, such as mint. It can also be prepared as a form, rather than as a savoury one. Samosas are often served in chaat, along with the accompaniments of yogurt, chutney, chopped onions, coriander. The samosa is bigger compared to other Indian and foreign variants, in Odisha, West Bengal and Jharkhand, shingaras are popular snacks. Shingaras are easy to make, but the folding is a little tricky and they are wrapped in a thin dough and fried. The coating is of white flour, not wheat flour, what distinguishes good shingaras are flaky textures, almost as if they are made with a savoury pie crust
11.
Manti (food)
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Manti or Mantu are dumplings popular in most Turkic cuisines, as well as in the Caucasian, Central Asian, Chinese Islamic, and Hejazi cuisines where it was brought by Central Asians settlers. Nowadays, manti are also consumed throughout Russia and other post-Soviet countries, the dumplings typically consist of a spiced meat mixture, usually lamb or ground beef in a dough wrapper, and either boiled or steamed. Size and shape vary significantly depending on the geographical location, manti resemble the Chinese jiaozi, Korean mandu, Mongolian buuz, and the Tibetan momo. Originally, mantou was meat filled, but nowadays mantou refers to steamed bun in China, the former territories of the Mongol Empire is where the various manti dishes are geographically located. The recipe was carried across Central Asia along the Silk Road to Anatolia by migrating Turkic, according to Holly Chase, Turkic and Mongol horsemen on the move are supposed to have carried frozen or dried manti, which could be quickly boiled over a camp-fire. In Turkey, it is also called Tatar böreği, which indicates its relation to nomadic peoples, Korean mandu is also said to have arrived in Korea through the Mongols in the 14th century. However, some researchers do not discount the possibility that manti may have originated in the Middle East and spread eastward to China, manti in Central Asian cuisines are usually larger in size. They are steamed in a metal steamer called mantovarka, mantyshnitsa. It consists of layered pots with holes, that are placed over a boiling stock, in Kazakh cuisine, the manti filling is normally ground lamb, spiced with black pepper, sometimes with the addition of chopped pumpkin or squash. This is considered to be a traditional Uyghur recipe, manti are served topped with butter, sour cream or onion sauce. When sold as food in Kazakhstan, manti are typically presented sprinkled with hot red pepper powder. In Uzbek, Tajik and Kyrgyz cuisines, manti are usually made of one of the ingredients, lamb, beef, potato or pumpkin. Steaming, frying and boiling are all common, manti are usually topped with butter and served with sour cream, tomato sauce or fresh onion rings. A sauce made by mixing vinegar and chilli powder is also common, in Uzbekistan, manti are also called kaskoni. The same style of cooking manti is traditional for Tatar, Bashkir and it is nowadays widespread throughout Russia and other post-Soviet countries. The mantu are also topped with a very small amount of tomato-based sauce which can include split peas. The amount of yoghurt sauce is much greater than the tomato sauce. Chutney, a green or red pepper condiment sauce, may be sprinkled on top
12.
Pilaf
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Pilaf is a dish in which rice is cooked in a seasoned broth. In some cases, the rice may attain its brown or golden colour by first being sauteed lightly in oil before the addition of broth, cooked onion, other vegetables as well as a mix of spices may be added. Depending on the cuisine, it may also contain meat, fish, vegetables, pasta. Pilaf and similar dishes are common to Balkan, Middle Eastern, Caucasian, Central and South Asian, East African, Latin American and Caribbean cuisines. The English term pilaf is borrowed directly from the Turkish pilav, which in turn comes from Persian polow, Hindi pulāo, from Sanskrit pulāka, the English spelling is influenced by the Modern Greek pilafi, which comes from the Turkish pilav. The ancient Hindu text Mahabharata from India, mentions rice and meat cooked together, pilaf was known to have been served to Alexander the Great at a royal banquet following his capture of the Sogdian capital of Marakanda. It is believed that soldiers from Alexanders army brought the preparation of pilaf back to Macedonia, in doing so, he described advantages and disadvantages of every item used for preparing the dish. Accordingly, Uzbeks and Tajiks consider Ibn Sina to be the father of modern pilaf, pilau became standard fare in the Middle East and Transcaucasia over the years with variations and innovations by the Persians, Arabs, Turks, and Armenians. It was introduced to Israel by Bukharan and Persian Jews, during the period of the Soviet Union, the Central Asian versions of the dish spread throughout all Soviet republics, becoming a part of the common Soviet cuisine. Known as pulao, polao, pallao and pulav locally, the dish has been an integral part of the Indian. The ancient Hindu text Mahabharata from India, mentions rice and meat cooked together, and the word pulao or pallao is used to refer to the dish in ancient Sanskrit works, such as Yājñavalkya Smṛti. A pulao is a dish consisting of rice and a mixture of either lentils or vegetables, mainly including peas, potatoes, french beans, carrots or meat, mainly chicken, fish, lamb, pork or prawn. It is usually served on occasions and weddings, though it is not uncommon to eat it for a regular lunch or dinner meal. It is considered high in food energy and fat. A pulao is often complimented with either spiced yogurt or raita, biryani is another rice dish in the Indian cuisine, similar to pulao, albeit with a different cooking method. The main distinction is that a biryani comprises layers of rice with meat or vegetables, Persian culinary terms referring to rice preparation are numerous and have found their way into the neighbouring languages, polov, chelov, kateh and tajine. There are also varieties of different rice dishes with vegetables and herbs which are popular among Iranians. There are four methods of cooking rice in Iran, Chelov, rice that is carefully prepared through soaking and parboiling, at which point the water is drained
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