Mansaf (Jordanian Lamb in Yogurt Sauce with Rice)
منسف (اردنی بکرے کا گوشت دہی کی ساس اور چاولوں کے ساتھ)
Mansaf is the dish of Jordanian hospitality: served at weddings, funerals, Eid and whenever honoured guests arrive. Lamb is simmered in a sauce made from *jameed*, a hard, dried, salted yogurt from the Bedouin tradition, until it's tender and tangy. It's served on a huge platter of rice laid over thin flatbread, scattered with toasted nuts, with extra sauce poured over. Jameed is hard to find outside the Levant, so this recipe uses thick yogurt stabilised with cornflour, which gives a very close result.
- ⏱ Total: 2 hr 20 min
- Prep: 20 min
- Cook: 2 hr
- Medium
- Serves 6
Method
Tap a step when it is done.
Simmer the lamb with the water, onion, bay leaves, cardamom and 1 tsp salt for 1½ hours, skimming, until tender. Lift out the meat and strain the stock.
Whisk the yogurt with the cornflour and egg white until smooth. Put it in a clean pot over medium heat and stir constantly in one direction until it comes to a gentle boil.
Gradually stir in 2 cups of the lamb stock, add the meat and remaining salt and simmer for 20 minutes so the meat absorbs the sauce.
Meanwhile, cook the rice in 1 tbsp ghee, the turmeric and 4½ cups of stock, covered on low heat, for 20 minutes.
Lay the bread on a large platter, moisten with a little sauce, pile the rice on top, arrange the lamb over it and scatter with the toasted nuts. Serve with extra sauce in a bowl.
Kitchen notes
Stir the yogurt constantly while heating and don't add salt until it has boiled, so it doesn't split.
Real jameed is sold in Middle Eastern shops, often as dried balls or frozen liquid. Soak dried jameed overnight and blend.
Mansaf is traditionally eaten with the right hand from a shared platter.
Jordan’s national dish
Mansaf comes from the Bedouin traditions of Jordan and southern Palestine, where sheep’s milk was turned into jameed, a dried, salted yogurt that kept for months in the desert. Cooking lamb in jameed and serving it on rice became the ultimate dish of generosity, and it’s now considered Jordan’s national dish.
The yogurt sauce
The heart of mansaf is the tangy sauce. Real jameed gives a sharp, salty, fermented flavour; thick Greek yogurt stabilised with cornflour and egg white is the best substitute and is used by many cooks abroad. The key is constant stirring in one direction while it heats, so it stays smooth.
A feast on a platter
Mansaf is served communally: thin bread lines a big round tray, rice goes on top, then the lamb, then a shower of toasted almonds and pine nuts. Extra sauce is poured over or served alongside.
Serving
Serve with extra sauce, salad and pickles. For other Arabic rice platters, see kabsa and maqluba.
Questions people ask
What does mansaf taste like?
Rich and tangy: tender lamb in a sour, savoury yogurt sauce, balanced by buttery rice and crunchy nuts.
Can I use chicken?
Chicken mansaf exists and is quicker; simmer the chicken for 35 minutes instead of 1½ hours.
Is it like a yogurt curry?
In spirit, a little like a mild meat kadhi with no spices, served over rice.
Nutrition (estimate, per serving)
- Calories
- 720
- Protein
- 46 g
- Fat
- 30 g
- Carbs
- 64 g
