Availibility of a wide variety of rice, its affordability and durability are also among the reasons for its popularity.
He added that rice-based dishes are the cheapest filling meal that can be purchased at lower-end restaurants catering to this segment of the population. This leads to the disproportionate mis-match between the per capita income and the per capita rice consumption.
But, interestingly, Emiratis and other Arab nationals are also regular rice eaters with biryani, mandi and madhbi being popular rice-based dishes.
However, experts suggest that a high percentage of the rice is not actually consumed, but is wasted.
Interestingly, the UAE is on a par with India for per capita consumption, which is one of the highest producers and consumers of rice in the world.