Mansaf is Jordan’s national dish made with lamb and jameed sauce, served on rice or groats and traditionally eaten by hand. It’s a communal meal and often served at special occasions. The dish is time-consuming to prepare, but variations exist with different meats and spices.
Mansaf is the national dish of Jordan. It is typically made from lamb and a fermented dry yogurt based sauce called jameed. Mansaf is usually served on top of a bed of rice or a mixture of various hulled grains called groats. This combination is traditionally served on a thin piece of focaccia. It is often presented on large platters as a centerpiece for special occasions such as weddings, engagements, Christmas and Jordanian Independence Day.
The dish was first created thousands of years ago and was inspired by the ready availability of yogurt and lamb. It is meant to be a communal meal, with multiple people standing around the plate to eat. Instead of utensils, the right hand is traditionally used to scoop food, while the left hand is placed behind the back.
The preparation of mansaf is a time-consuming process that is approached with great care. It usually starts with making the jameed. This dried Arabic yogurt is soaked for an hour, mashed and then dried again. It is then combined with water and spices to create a cooking broth.
Before cooking, the lamb is cut into pieces. It is then simmered in yogurt stock, which is stirred periodically to keep the consistency of the sauce consistent. In addition to the sauce, lamb is traditionally prepared with a variety of herbs and spices such as cinnamon and cardamom. Often this preparation is cooked over an open fire in a hanging pot.
Mansaf is served on large platters. The first layer on the plate is a large, thin piece of flatbread, usually shrak or markook, both styles of bread common in the Middle East. It could be covered in yogurt first. Then the bread is covered with a piled up mound of rice that has been cooked in oil.
The cooked pieces of lamb are spread over the rice. It is then covered with a yoghurt sauce made from the cooking broth. Typical side dishes for the dish include pine nuts and almonds.
There are other types of Mansaf, including varieties with different types of meat, spices, and preparation methods. Chicken is another popular meat used in the dish, and fish is commonly used in areas near the sea such as the port in the West Bank city of Aqaba. Mansaf has also been adapted for everyday cooking with a regular yoghurt sauce that doesn’t require as much work or preparation time.
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