Zurbian

Zurbian is a spiced rice-and-meat dish popularised in Jeddah by the Hadrami and Adeni community that settled in the Hejazi port. The meat (lamb) is slow-cooked until it falls apart, yielding a deep brown rather than yellow rice, and the dish is traditionally cooked in an underground pit (the mandi technique). It is distinct from Yemeni zurbian in its Hejazi seasoning and is a centrepiece of Jeddah weddings and celebrations.

Deep brown, intensely spiced rice with falling-apart lamb, the spices warm and complex, a smokiness from the pit, the rice each grain separate and savoury. Eaten with a sharp chili sauce, it is rich, smoky and the festive face of Jeddah.

The lamb is marinated in a complex spice paste (cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cardamom, black pepper, saffron) and yogurt, then slow-cooked in a sealed pit or heavy pot until tender and deeply coloured. The rice is cooked in the meat's broth, which gives it the characteristic brown colour and deep flavour. In the traditional pit method, the meat hangs above the rice and its juices drip down. The slow pit cooking and the meat-broth rice are the defining techniques.