🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia
Mandi
مندي · mandi
Tender saffron-rubbed lamb or chicken and long-grain rice cooked low and slow, then finished with a signature charcoal smoking.
Serves ~4–6
Photo to come
Ingredients
- 1.5–2 kg lamb (or 1 chicken)
- 4 cups long-grain basmati, soaked
- 4.5–5 cups water or broth
- Rub: saffron, turmeric, coarse salt
- Whole spices: 2–3 loomi, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves
- 1 piece charcoal + ghee, for smoking
Method
- Rub the meat with the saffron, turmeric and salt.
- Brown it, then cook covered or in a 350°F oven — about 2½–3 hours for lamb, 1½ hours for chicken — until falling off the bone. Reserve the broth.
- Cook the rice in the broth with the whole spices.
- Smoke: nestle a lit piece of charcoal in a small bowl in the pot, drizzle with hot ghee, and cover tightly at least 7 minutes.
- Plate the rice topped with the meat.
The family table
Mandi is Yemeni (Hadhramaut) in origin but fully naturalized in Saudi Arabia. Traditionally cooked in an underground pit; the charcoal-in-pot trick reproduces that smoke. The smoking and lighter spicing set it apart from kabsa.
Yumma
Middle Eastern home cooking, organized by country. Your family’s version is the one that counts. · info@yummarecipes.com