Mandi

Ingredients

Meat

• 1.8 kglamb shoulder on the bone, cut into large pieces
• 2 tbsphawaij for meat (see below)
• 1 tbspfine salt
• 1onion, quartered
• 4cardamom pods, cracked
• 2bay leaves
• 2.5 litreswater

Hawaij for meat

• 2 tspcumin seed
• 2 tspcoriander seed
• 1 tspblack peppercorns
• 1 tspturmeric
• 6green cardamom pods
• 4cloves

Rice

• 800 gaged basmati, rinsed until the water runs clear and soaked 30 min
• 4 tbspsamn or ghee
• 1large onion, finely sliced
• 1large pinch saffron, steeped in 3 tbsp hot water
• 1 tspground cardamom
• 1.4 litresof the strained lamb broth

Smoking

• 1lump of natural charcoal
• 1 tbspsamn
• 1small metal bowl or foil cup

To serve

• sahawiq (green chilli and coriander relish)
• raisins and toasted flaked almonds

Directions

1. Toast and grind the hawaij spices; rub two thirds of the mix and the salt into the lamb and leave it 30 minutes at room temperature.
2. Bring the lamb, onion, cardamom, bay and water to the boil in a deep pot, skim the scum for 10 minutes, then cover and simmer very gently for 2 hours, until the meat pulls from the bone but still holds its shape.
3. Lift the lamb out and strain the broth; skim off the fat and reserve it. Measure 1.4 litres of broth for the rice and taste it for salt.
4. Fry the sliced onion in the samn in a wide heavy pot over medium heat for 12 minutes, until deep gold, then stir in the remaining hawaij and the ground cardamom for 30 seconds.
5. Add the drained rice and turn it in the fat for 2 minutes, until every grain is coated and slightly translucent at the edge.
6. Pour in the hot broth and the saffron water, bring to a boil, then cover tightly and cook on the lowest heat for 15 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed and craters appear on the surface.
7. Set a rack over the rice, lay the lamb on it, brush the meat with the reserved fat, and put the pot in a 220°C (425°F) oven uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes so the lamb browns and its dripping falls into the rice.
8. Heat the charcoal lump on a gas flame until it glows red through. Clear a hollow in the rice, sit the metal bowl in it, drop in the coal and spoon the samn onto the coal so it billows white smoke.
9. Clamp the lid on immediately and leave sealed off the heat for 10 minutes; this dukhan is what makes mandi mandi rather than kabsa.
10. Remove the bowl, fluff the rice from the bottom up, mound it on a large platter with the lamb on top, and scatter raisins and almonds. Eat with the right hand, with sahawiq alongside.

Technique

• The original Hadhrami method buries a sealed clay tandoor pit in the ground, lights wood inside, and hangs the lamb above a covered pot of rice so nothing but smoke and dripping touch it. The oven-plus-charcoal method here is the honest home approximation.
• Mandi is not fried or seared first. The meat is poached then finished, which is why it stays pale, wet and falling apart, unlike its browned cousin madfoon.
• Do not stir the rice once the broth goes in. Yemeni cooks judge a mandi by whether the grains stay separate and whole.

Substitutions

• No lamb shoulder: use goat, the traditional Hadhramaut animal, and add 30 minutes to the simmer. If you have no charcoal, skip the smoking rather than faking it with liquid smoke, and call the result madfoon.

Variations

• Mandi dajaj replaces the lamb with a whole spatchcocked bird.
• Zurbian, the Aden version, layers the rice with yoghurt, potato and more turmeric.
• Haneeth is the same lamb roasted dry in the pit with no rice underneath.

History

Hadhrami dish in which meat hangs above rice in a covered earth pit, so the rice takes the smoke and dripping fat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mandi?

Mandi is a main from Yemen: lamb and rice smoked in underground tandoor pit; Hadhramaut origin. Hadhrami dish in which meat hangs above rice in a covered earth pit, so the rice takes the smoke and dripping fat.

How long does Mandi take to make?

Mandi takes 30 min of preparation and 3 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Mandi?

Yes, within limits. No lamb shoulder: use goat, the traditional Hadhramaut animal, and add 30 minutes to the simmer. If you have no charcoal, skip the smoking rather than faking it with liquid smoke, and call the result madfoon.

What is the most important thing to get right in Mandi?

Clamp the lid on immediately and leave sealed off the heat for 10 minutes; this dukhan is what makes mandi mandi rather than kabsa.