Indian and Nepali food in Dubai

The scene in Dubai

South Asians make up the large majority of Dubai's population, and the food reflects that far more honestly in the cafeterias of Deira and Karama than in the hotel restaurants. Kerala, Tamil and Pakistani cooking are everywhere and inexpensive. The emirate also has a genuine high end, but the everyday food is the reason to eat here.

How it got here

Labour migration from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Punjab and Pakistan built modern Dubai, and the cafeteria — cheap, fast, open very late — grew to feed it. Nepali migration followed the same routes more recently, and momo now appears across the older districts. The result is a city where regional South Asian food is ordinary rather than exotic.

What to expect

Kerala food is the strongest single thread: parotta, beef fry, fish curry, and appam. Portions are large and prices in the old districts are a fraction of the marina and downtown. Many cafeterias have no alcohol and no pretension, run long hours, and are busiest very late. Ramadan changes opening hours across the city substantially.

Where to eat

• Karama — The most concentrated South Indian and Pakistani eating in the city, at low prices.
• Deira — Old Dubai's dense grid of cafeterias, sweet shops and late-night kebab counters.
• Al Quoz — Industrial, and home to workers' canteens serving some of the most honest Kerala food in the emirate.
• Bur Dubai — Historic Indian quarter with Gujarati and Sindhi vegetarian cooking alongside the temples.

Practical notes

Deira and Karama are where to eat; the hotel restaurants are a different and much more expensive proposition. Many cafeterias deliver at all hours and have done for decades. Cash still helps in the older districts. Friday is the busy day for family meals, so expect queues at the well-known places.

What is listed in Dubai

405 restaurants in the directory, by cuisine:

• Indian — 271 restaurants
• Indo-Nepali — 130 restaurants
• Nepali — 4 restaurants

The cuisines you will meet

• Indian — Not one cuisine but a continent's worth, unified by how spices are handled rather than by what is cooked.
• Indo-Nepali — The most common restaurant format abroad: a Nepali kitchen cooking a mostly Indian menu, with momo on the side.
• South Indian — Rice, lentils and fermentation — a lighter, sourer tradition with almost no relation to a North Indian menu.

Dishes worth seeking out in Dubai

• Chicken Biryani — Rice and marinated chicken layered raw, then sealed and steamed together.
• Butter Chicken — Tandoori chicken finished in a tomato and cream gravy — mild, and deliberately so.
• Garlic Naan — Leavened flatbread slapped onto the wall of a clay oven and blistered in ninety seconds.
• Veg Thali — A full meal served as small bowls on one tray, built for balance rather than a centrepiece.
• Chicken Momo — Nepal's steamed dumpling, eaten by hand with a bowl of sesame-tomato achar.

Other cities

• London — UK
• Tokyo — Japan
• Bangalore — India
• New York — USA
• Berlin — Germany