Mansaf
Jordan's national dish — lamb cooked in fermented dried yogurt over rice.
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg Lamb
- 500 g Jameed dried yogurt
- 3 cups Basmati rice
- 3 sheets Flatbread
- ½ cup Almonds
- ¼ cup Pine nuts
- 5 tbsp Ghee
- 6 Cardamom pods
- 1 tsp Turmeric
- ¼ cup Parsley
- 2 tsp Salt
- 10 cups Water
Method
- Soak the jameed — Break the dried jameed into pieces and soak in warm water overnight, then blend into a smooth thick liquid and strain.
- Boil the lamb — Simmer the lamb with cardamom and salt for 1½ hours, skimming the foam.
- Cook in jameed — Add the jameed liquid and cook gently for 45 minutes, stirring in one direction constantly — if it boils hard or is left unstirred it will curdle.
- Cook the rice — Steam the rice with turmeric and ghee until fluffy.
- Toast the nuts — Fry the almonds and pine nuts in ghee until golden.
- Assemble — Lay flatbread on a wide platter, moisten it with jameed sauce, then spread the rice and arrange the lamb on top.
- Mansaf is ready — Pour more hot jameed over, scatter the nuts and parsley, and serve with extra sauce to drink.