Ingredients in UAE mostly come from India, says UAE's first female chef Khulood Atiq Saeed

Food ingredients, mostly spices, come from India, which makes the Emirati cuisine taste almost similar to the Indian cuisine, shared Khulood Atiq Saeed, the first female chef from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Attending an international food festival hosted by the Embassy of UAE in New Delhi in collaboration with multiple Embassies of other countries, including France, Tunisia, Czech Republic, Hungary and others, on Friday, Saeed told ANI, "We don't have any ingredients in our country. Most of the spices come from India. So you can see the Emirati food and Indian food is similar."

"Few differences are however noted in the taste because we use less chilli in our food. But today it was a combination of both cuisines. I made the Emirati stew and used the Indian 'Rumali Roti' as the bread to go with it," Saeed added.

The celebrity chef further went on stating that Indian food was one of her favourites in the list.

"I am excited to see more recipes and spices in the food festival. In my country, we have some Indian food but it is not the same here because you have a huge number of recipes. I have time here and so, I went to the kitchen and saw the chef preparing few of the Indian dishes," Saeed said.

When asked to elaborate on her journey of becoming the first female iconic chef from the UAE, Saeed remarked that her career started in 2006.

"Initially many people had commented that how are you going to work with your abaya along with so many men around you. But now those people are proud of me because today I not only cook but also write the Emirati cookbooks. I do lots of episodes on the local television channels and visit around the world to promote the Emirati food," Saeed noted.