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After several days exploring the beautiful country of Iraq, I finally made it to the legendary city of Karbala! We’d be trying a mix of foods here, as well as visiting the city’s two shrines.
Karbala is located roughly two hours south of Baghdad by car. It’s famous for the Battle of Karbala, which took place 1400 years ago. It is because of that battle that locals make a pilgrimage from Baghdad to Karbala every year.
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Our first stop was a local restaurant that specializes in home-cooked-style meals. We were there for a local stew called tashreeb, but we also saw them making another stew with onions, eggplant, tomato paste, rice, and pumpkin called madfoon. They also had white rice and chicken biryani, lamb ribs, a white bean dish called fasolia, roasted chicken, and a veg and bean stew called sabzi.
They served us some rice with noodles and crispy almonds on top. The cook fed me some of the madfoon, which was amazing and opened up my appetite! Then, they tore some khubz tannour up, put it on the platter, and spooned the tashreeb and lamb ribs over it. Everything looked so good!
At our table, I tried some fresh mint leaves and then we dove into the tashreeb with our hands. I loved the bread soaked in tomato juice and the buttery, tender lamb. The onions, potatoes, and chickpeas were also very nice! The rib meat came right off the bone and was super flavorful.
The sabzi was also full of flavor from the saffron rice and ghee, and the greens and kidney beans were also fantastic. I also really enjoyed the stuffed onions, eggplant, and pumpkin. They were stuffed with rice and tomato paste. The chicken biryani contained noodles, raisins, and nice spices.
The tepsi baytinijan, or eggplant stew, also blew me away. It also contained potatoes and other vegetables. Finally, we finished with a thick, milk-based dessert that also contains butter, flour, sugar, and pistachios called halawa halib. It was sweet and decadent, and I loved the crushed pistachios!
Next, we drove to a date vendor on the street who was selling thousands of dates. They’d been sitting in the sun, so it melted in my mouth! We also had some delicious and boiling hot Iraqi chai with cardamom and sugar. We had to pour it onto saucers to cool it off!
We drove a bit more to the pilgrimage route and saw vendors making khubz tannour, kebabs, and dates in tahini sauce called w’rashi. They were sweet and nutty! We saw guys taking huge blocks of ice to all the other vendors.
Next was some refreshing apricot juice, followed by tomato kaymak with short-grain rice. It was a tasty, thick stew with flavorful rice. Karbala and Najaf have a rivalry over whose kaymak is the best. These vendors brought theirs from Najaf, and it was amazing! After trying it, I helped pass it out to the pilgrims.
On the way to the shrine, we saw a guy making a 3-meter-tall shawarma! Finally, we made it to the first of the two shrines, the Shine of Imam Hossain, the grandson of the prophet Mohammed. He was a martyr. It’s quite emotional and beautiful inside. People inside were crying and rushing to touch the tomb.
We followed that with some sugar bread, which smelled like cardamom and tasted like pure sugar, some fresh pomegranate juice, and some skanjabeel, which is a local non-alcoholic drink made from vinegar, honey, sugar, and mint! It’s so refreshing and unique!
Where have you been?
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#Iraq #Karbala #IraqiStreetFood #Foodie #Travel
About Me:
My name is David Hoffmann. Since starting David’s Been Here in 2008, I have traveled to over 1,300 destinations in 94 countries to experience and document unique cultures on my YouTube channel, travel blog, and social media.
I highlight culture and historical sites, but my passion is food! I love to experience and showcase the different flavors each destination has to offer, from casual street food to gourmet restaurant dining.
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