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Mansaf - Recipe card

Jordanian Mansaf Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 2 reviews
  • Author: Wafa Shami
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 45
  • Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
  • Category: stove
  • Cuisine: Arabic

Description

This Jordanian mansaf recipe features tender lamb simmered in a jameed (dried yogurt) infused broth, served on top of fluffy rice, and garnished with toasted nuts. It's considered to be Jordan's National dish, and often served on special occasions, such as weddings, holidays, and large gatherings.


Ingredients

Scale

For the Broth:

  • 4-5 lamb pieces (about 3 pounds)
  • 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and cut into 2 or 4 halves
  • 3-4 cardamom pods
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • tap water

For the Rice:

  • 2 cups rice (short grain)
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter or ghee
  • 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 2 cups of boiled water

For the Yogurt Sauce:

  • 2 cups of liquid jameed
  • 3 cups of lamb broth

To assemble and serve

  • 1 large shrak or 2 medium size flat bread or tortillas.
  • 1 cup roasted almonds, or half pine nuts and half almonds.

Instructions

For the Broth:

  1. In a pressure cooker or large pot or Dutch oven, place lamb and cover fully with enough water. Set over high heat and cook until water comes to a boil and foam rises to the surface.
  2. Remove from heat, drain lamb, and toss water, then wash lamb with clean water to remove any foam clinging to them.
  3. Return lamb to pot along with basil leaves, onion, cardamom pods, cinnamon stick, and salt. Add enough water to cover all the ingredients about 6 cups, seal the pressure cooker with the lid, and place on high heat, once you hear the whistle of the pressure cooker, set a timer for 30-35 minutes.
  4. Let the pressure cooker cool off before lifting the lid, for about 15 minutes.
  5. Take the lamb out of the pot and place it on a plate. Strain broth discarding, onions, and other spices (broth and lamb are hot make sure to use a tong).
  6. Using the same pot measure 3 cups of broth, add liquid jameed (2 cups) whisk well.
  7. Bring back lamb pieces into the pot into the sauce mixture and let it cook on medium-high heat for about 10-15 minutes.

For the Rice: 

  1. Soak rice for 10 minutes.
  2. In a medium pot heat ghee or butter, rinse rice, and add over ghee, add salt, turmeric combines everything well, and cover with boiled water.
  3. Turn the heat on low, cover the pot, and let it simmer for 15 minutes.

To Assemble and Serve: 

  1. To serve, lay bread on top of a round large platter, or tear it up into large pieces and arrange it to cover the platter.
  2. Pour enough yogurt sauce over the bread to soak through and soften.
  3. Spoon rice and spread it on top of the bread.
  4. Set lamb on top. Ladle enough yogurt sauce all over, but not to the point that it is wet and soaked like soup. Extra sauce can be placed in separate bowls on the side and then added separately over mansaf to individual serving plates.
  5. Sprinkle all over with the toasted almonds.
  6. Serve, by scooping with a large serving spoon and serve in individual plates.

 


Notes

  • If you would like to use balls of jameed, wrap the ball in a kitchen towel, and smash it with a hard object once cracked into pieces place it in a large pot and cover 2-3 cups of water overnight. It needs to be soaked in water for at least 8-12 hours before cooking. Then blend the soaked jameed with water in an immersion blender before adding it to the meat broth and follow steps 8 and 9.
  • If using a Dutch oven, lamb needs to simmer for about 1-1/2 to 2 hours.
  • To peel the skin off almonds, place one cup of almonds in a bowl, pour boiled water, and let them soak for 1/2 an hour or until the water cooled off and is safe to touch, then with your fingers slide out the skin of each almond.
  • To toast almonds or pine nuts, in a small skillet add 1 tablespoon of butter or neutral oil, over medium heat, bring almonds and nuts, and saute for a few minutes until golden brown.
  • The jameed yogurt has a salty tangy taste, there is no need to add any salt.