Mansaf is a traditional Jordanian recipe for the national dish of of lamb and rice cooked in a yoghurt sauce that's served on a bed of shrak flatbreads. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Jordanian version of: Mansaf.
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While this is not a complicated dish to make, it's most prominent ingredient, jameed can be hard to find. It's a type of yogurt traditionally dried and made into balls that had to be reconstituted, but now also available in liquid form. You can find it online in the US and at some Middle Eastern markets. I found it at our local Indian store, which is quite large. While some people who can't find jameed substitute it with Greek yogurt, I think you need the real thing. You also need actual plain yogurt, I used a European style one and it worked perfectly.
Mansaf is served on shrak bread, a flat bread available in Jordan. In the US, the recommendation is that you use tortillas. You can eat the whole dish with your hands if you tear a piece of the bread or tortillas and use it to hold the meat and rice.
Ingredients:
For the lamb:
1.2kg lamb, cut into serving-sized chunks
2 tbsp ghee
1 onion, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
4 cloves
4 cardamom pods
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp ground allspice
salt to taste
For the Rice:
2 tbsp ghee
400g short-grain rice, rinsed
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
salt to taste
625ml water
For the Jameed Sauce:
250ml plain yogurt
1 tbsp cornflour
520ml package of liquid jameed
2 tbsp ghee (optional)
2 garlic cloves, minced (optional)
For the finished dish:
1-2 pieces of shrak bread
1/2 bunch parsley, chopped
70g almonds or pine nuts, toasted
Method:
Fill a large pot with enough water to cover the lamb and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the lamb and bring back to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the lamb from the water, set aside, and discard the cooking water.
Add ghee to the pan and melt over medium heat. Add the onion and fry until softened. Add the lamb, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, peppercorns and salt and fry, stirring frequently, until the lamb is browned (about 5 minutes). Add enough water to cover the lamb again, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to very low and simmer until the lamb is cooked through (about an hour).
Remove the lamb from the pot and set aside. Reserve 375ml of the cooking liquid and discard the rest. Wipe the pot clean.
Meanwhile, prepare the rice: In a separate medium-sized pan, melt the ghee over medium-high heat. Add the rice and stir, making sure all the grains are covered in ghee. Add the turmeric and salt along with the water then bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer gently until the rice is cooked (about 20 minutes).
Once the lamb is ready, prepare de Jameed sauce: In a large bowl, whisk together the yoghurt and the cornflour. Whisk in the jameed, followed by the reserved lamb cooking liquid. Set aside.
Return the pot where you cooked the lamb to the stove, add ghee and melt it over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and fry for 30 seconds. Whisk in the jameed mixture and bring to a boil. If not using garlic, simply pour the jameed mixture into the pot and bring to a boil over medium-heat.
Add the reserved lamb. Taste and adjust seasoning. Cook for about 10 minutes more.
To Assemble the dish: Arrange the shrak bread on the base of a large serving plate. Ladle some of the jameed sauce onto the flatbreads. Spread the rice on top.
Using a slotted spoon, transfer the lamb to the top of the rice. Ladle additional jameed sauce on the lamb. Sprinkle parsley and toasted almonds or pine nuts over the top then serve.
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