Mansaf
Lamb in jameed yogurt sauce, spiced rice and toasted almonds.
Maui's an app that plans a whole week of dinners like this one. See how it works ↓
The hardest part of mansaf is the sauce - yogurt CURDLES if you boil it. Always temper (slowly whisk hot broth INTO the yogurt before adding to the pot), keep heat low, and stir in one direction. The reward is silky, tangy, slightly funky lamb sauce that doesn't exist anywhere else in the world.
Ingredients
Everything below makes 6 servings.
- 2½ lbboneless lamb shouldercut into 2-inch chunks
- 8 ozjameed (dry fermented yogurt)broken into chunks, soaked overnight in 4 cups water
- 2 cupslong-grain rice or basmatirinsed
- 1 largeyellow onionfinely diced
- 4garlic clovessmashed
- 4green cardamom podslightly cracked
- 1cinnamon stick
- ¾ tspground turmericfor rice
- 3 tbspghee or butter
- 2 tbspolive oil
- ½ cupslivered almonds
- ¼ cupfresh flat-leaf parsleychopped
- 4shrak or saj flatbread (for serving)
- 2 tspkosher salt
- ½ tspfreshly ground black pepper
- 3 cupswater
In the app these rescale to however many people you're feeding.
Nutrition
Per serving, as written.
- 1000calories
- 58gprotein
- 78gcarbs
- 51gfat
Swaps move these numbers. A different protein or base changes them.
Instructions
Knife work first, then the stove. Nothing below asks you to chop while something burns.
- The night before: break jameed into chunks and soak in 4 cups water in the fridge. The morning of, whisk it smooth - strain through fine-mesh sieve if any solids remain. (If using the strict-halal yogurt swap, do this morning-of.).
- Cut lamb into 2-inch chunks. Pat dry. Season with 1 tsp kosher salt and pepper.
- Finely dice the onion. Smash 4 garlic cloves. Crack the cardamom pods. Chop parsley.
Sear lamb
Heat olive oil in dutch oven over medium-high. Sear lamb in batches 3 min per side until golden - don't crowd. Transfer to a plate.
12 min · hands onBuild the braise
Reduce heat to medium. Add diced onion, cook 6 min until soft. Add smashed garlic, cracked cardamom, and cinnamon stick; cook 1 min until fragrant. Return lamb to the pot with 6 cups water. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook 75-90 min until lamb is fork-tender.
90 min · hands offCook the rice
In a medium saucepan, melt ghee. Add rinsed rice and turmeric and salt, stir 1 min to coat. Add water, bring to a boil, cover, reduce to low, cook 15 min. Off heat, let steam 5 min.
20 min · hands offToast almonds
In a small skillet, melt ghee over medium. Add slivered almonds, stir constantly 2-3 min until pale gold - they go bitter the second they turn brown. Set aside.
3 min · hands onBuild jameed sauce
When lamb is tender, ladle 2 cups of the braising liquid into a clean bowl. Slowly whisk in the reconstituted jameed liquid (or yogurt slurry). Pour the tempered mixture back into the pot, stirring CONSTANTLY in one direction - this prevents the yogurt from breaking. Reduce heat to low and simmer gently 15 min, stirring often, until the sauce is silky and slightly thickened. Do NOT let it boil hard.
15 min · hands onPlate the traditional way
On a large platter, lay flatbread to line the surface. Mound rice over the bread. Arrange lamb on top of the rice. Ladle generous amounts of jameed sauce over the lamb (pass extra at the table). Scatter toasted almonds and parsley across the top.
4 min · hands onMake it yours
Every swap here is one Maui already knows how to make, including what it does to the timing.
Beef chuck swaps 1:1; same braise time.
Skip the flatbread lining; serve rice as a base directly. Saves about 5 minutes.
Skip reconstituting jameed; whisk 3 cups whole Greek yogurt and 1 tbsp lemon juice and 1 tbsp cornstarch and 1/2 cup water; use in place of jameed liquid. Saves about 10 minutes.
Serve over rice only - skip the bread lining, or use a GF flatbread.
What keeps
Mansaf deepens overnight - flavors meld beautifully. Keep lamb and sauce together (4 days).
Cook rice fresh the day-of, or refresh leftover rice with a splash of water and a quick steam.
Meet Maui,
the three-legged cat
who plans your dinner.
Think of her as a sous chef for your whole table. She plans dinner everyone will look forward to - built around your schedule and working in everyone's taste and dietary restrictions. That's the mental load of dinner, off your plate.
Join The WaitlistCurrently in closed beta on iPhone.
