Healthy Eating in Ajman: Karak, Kingfish, Shawarma and Machboos, with the Numbers

How does Ajman actually eat?

Ajman eats in three layers. At home, Emirati families still cook machboos, harees, thareed and balaleet, the dishes a Gulf News health feature picked out for lighter versions. On the street, the cafeteria runs the day: karak tea, paratha and a chicken shawarma from a counter in Al Nuaimiya or Al Rashidiya. And because Ajman’s residents come from across South Asia and the Arab world, a fish curry with rice from a Keralan kitchen is as easy to find here as a grilled kebab.

Ajman is a coastal emirate, and the sea is never far from the plate. The Ajman Fish Market is a stop on the emirate’s abra network, the wooden passenger boats that also call at Al Rashidiya, Al Zorah, Musherief and Safia, according to Wikipedia’s entry on Ajman. The same entry describes the corniche as an evening and weekend spot full of fast food outlets and coffee shops, and Marsa Ajman as a waterfront of restaurants and cafés. City Centre Ajman, the emirate’s biggest mall, adds the food court.

None of that needs to change for you to eat well. What changes is the ratio: more of the grill and the fish, less of the fryer and the sugar in your tea. The numbers below show why.

Calories and protein in Ajman’s everyday food

This table uses the US Department of Agriculture’s FoodData Central survey entries, the closest published match for each dish, per 100 g. Restaurants in Ajman don’t publish nutrition for their own recipes, so treat each figure as a typical version rather than the exact plate in front of you.

Two things stand out. Grilled kingfish has more than twice the protein of a shawarma for each 100 g, and less than half the calories of a paratha. And the dishes that sound light are not always so: a falafel sandwich carries 265 kcal per 100 g, more than the shawarma, because the falafel itself is deep-fried.

What should you order at an Ajman fish restaurant?

At an Ajman fish restaurant, order your fish grilled, not fried, and ask for salad and a small portion of rice. Kingfish, known locally as kanaad, is a narrow-barred Spanish mackerel, and USDA’s entry for cooked Spanish mackerel gives 158 kcal and 23.6 g of protein per 100 g. A 200 g grilled portion is about 316 kcal and 47 g of protein, close to the protein most people aim for in two meals.

Samak mashwi, the Emirati grilled fish, needs no change at all, according to the Dubai Health Authority clinical dietitian quoted by Gulf News: it is fresh fish with minimal spice. The calories arrive with what surrounds it. Rice cooked in ghee, a basket of bread and a creamy dip can add more than the fish itself. If you love the fish curry from a Keralan kitchen in Al Nuaimiya, USDA’s fish curry with rice works out at 107 kcal and 4.0 g of protein per 100 g, so pair a 250 g plate (about 268 kcal) with a grilled fillet to bring the protein up.

Karak and paratha: how to keep the cafeteria breakfast

You can keep the Ajman cafeteria breakfast if you treat the paratha as the treat and the karak as a small cup. USDA’s paratha entry gives 326 kcal, 13.2 g of fat and 6.4 g of protein per 100 g. An 80 g paratha is about 261 kcal and 5 g of protein: plenty of energy, very little to build muscle with.

USDA’s plain hot tea with milk is 51 kcal per 100 g. A 150 ml cup is about 77 kcal. Karak is usually brewed with evaporated milk and sugar, so a cafeteria cup is likely to sit above that figure. Two or three cups a day add up: ask for less sugar, or make one of them plain tea.

• Keep: one paratha, one karak, and add a protein: eggs, labneh or a chicken tikka roll from the same counter.
• Swap: a second paratha for a cup of lentil soup or a plate of beans.
• Skip, most days: the deep-fried samosa or puff on the side. Save it for Friday.

Shawarma or falafel: which wrap fits your goal?

For a fat-loss or muscle goal in Ajman, the chicken shawarma beats the falafel sandwich. USDA’s gyro sandwich, the nearest entry to a chicken shawarma wrap, gives 184 kcal and 11.2 g of protein per 100 g. Its falafel sandwich gives 265 kcal and 6.2 g.

That difference is roughly a second meal’s worth of calories for half the protein. If you are vegetarian, eat the falafel as a plate with salad and hummus rather than rolled in bread, or ask for fewer pieces and more vegetables. If you eat meat, ask for the shawarma without extra garlic sauce and with pickles and salad instead of fries inside.

Emirati home dishes in Ajman, made lighter

Emirati home cooking in Ajman can fit a training plan with a few changes to fat and cut. Gulf News asked two Dubai Health Authority-licensed dietitians to rework seven Emirati dishes, and their swaps are simple:

1. 1

   Machboos

   Use less ghee, choose lean lamb or skinless chicken, and grill the chicken rather than fry it.

2. 2

   Harees

   Cut back the ghee or leave it out, take the skin off the chicken and use lean lamb.

3. 3

   Margoogat

   Use lean chicken instead of red meat, add more vegetables and choose a healthier bread.

4. 4

   Balaleet

   Boil the vermicelli instead of frying it, and use less butter and sugar, or olive oil in place of butter.

5. 5

   Kebab

   Choose lean cuts, go easy on the oil, and serve with salad or steamed vegetables and a small piece of wholewheat bread.

For a family meal, serve the protein first and the rice from a separate dish, so each person decides their own portion. USDA’s chicken shish kabob with vegetables, a fair match for a home kebab plate, gives 104 kcal and 13.0 g of protein per 100 g: a 350 g plate is about 364 kcal and 46 g of protein.

A fat-loss day built from Ajman food

This is an example day of about 1,650 kcal and 133 g of protein, using only food you can buy in Ajman and the USDA figures above. Adjust portions to your size and appetite; it is a pattern, not a prescription.

A muscle-gain day built from Ajman food

For a muscle-gain goal, eat more of the same food. This day reaches about 3,100 kcal and 176 g of protein, with dates after training for quick carbohydrate.

Eating and training in Ajman during Ramadan

In Ramadan in Ajman, break the fast with dates and water, eat a proper protein meal, and train either before iftar or after suhoor. USDA gives medjool dates 277 kcal and 75 g of carbohydrate per 100 g, so 50 g of dates is about 139 kcal of quick energy. The calories that pile up in the month usually come later, from fried iftar snacks and sweets such as luqaimat.

Shorter Ramadan working hours bring many Ajman residents home earlier in the afternoon. Our sessions run until 6:30 PM UAE time, which leaves room for a short, light session before sunset or a 5 AM session after suhoor. Moving between the two takes 24 hours’ notice.

Ordering well across Ajman: a quick guide

• Corniche cafés: fresh juice is mostly sugar; choose water or plain laban and order a grilled halloumi or chicken sandwich.
• City Centre Ajman food court: a grilled chicken plate or a rice bowl with extra protein beats burgers and fries.
• Shawarma counters in Al Nuaimiya and Al Rashidiya: one chicken shawarma, salad inside, garlic sauce on the side.
• Keralan and South Indian kitchens: fish fry or fish curry with a measured scoop of rice; skip the second porotta.
• Friday family lunch: take the grilled fish and kebab first, the machboos second.

Next, see what a personal trainer costs in Ajman, where to run and train in Ajman through the year, and our online personal training page for Ajman. If you work across the border, our Dubai page covers that side of the commute, and every emirate is on our UAE page.