Jordanian Mansaf by Cookwithdena

Jordanian Mansaf
By Cookwithdena

This is as traditional as I can get, I used the stovetop and my Dutch oven for the Mansaf.

Ingredients:
1. 2 Jameed balls or 2lbs Jameed grated, crushed or chopped and soaked in water for atleast 4 hours or over night
2. 6 pounds lamb with bone, cut into 1/2lb pieces
3. 1 onion peeled and quartered
4. 8 bay leaves
5. 10 cardamom pods
6. 1 cinnamon stick
7. 2 tbs ghee
8. 3 tbs Mansaf spice
9. 1 tbs black pepper corns, 1/2 tsp allspice berries (allspice is optional)
10. Parsley chopped
11. 6 cups Calrose or Egyptian rice washed and soaked for 20 mins
12. 1 cup pinenuts or almonds pan fried.
13. 1/2 tsp turmeric
14. Salt to taste
15. Shrak (thin sajj bread)


Steps:
We need to start cooking the lamb before anything because that’s what takes the longest. Like 2 hours atleast.....let’s get a large 10qt pot and put in the lamb and fill it with water. Bring to a boil for about ten minutes, all the boiling water should be foamy and mirky looking. Worry not my friends, this is getting all that gamey flavor out. After ten minutes, remove the lamb from the pot. Rinse each piece of meat under the faucet, wash the pot and then return the pot onto the stovetop.

Turn the stove onto high heat, add in the ghee at this point. Once hot, add in the lamb and your looking for a sizzle. Now let’s add in all the aromatics. The Mansaf spice, cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaves, black pepper, allspice, onion and 12 cups of water. Mix together and lower the heat to medium low, covered for about an hour. Make sure the lamb is covered in liquid, you can adjust the water if you feel like it’s evaporating. After an hour, add in the soaked Jameed. Stir into the pot, and cover for another hour or until the lamb is tender.

Let’s make the rice, in a large pot heat up two tablespoons of ghee. Add in the soaked rice, turmeric and a sprinkle of salt. Mix the rice well to ensure that each grain of rice is covered in ghee. Add in 10 cups of water, bring to a rolling boil. Cover the pot with a lid and lower the heat for 20 mins.

Assembly!!!! Finally!!!! Get a large round platter with a slight edge. Put a layer of shrak bread, drizzle a little soup on it. Add on the rice, and then the lamb pieces. Drizzle more Mansaf of the lamb using a strainer. Top with the pan fried pine nuts or almonds and parsley. Pour the rest of the Mansaf soup through a strainer and serve in a large bowl next to the Mansaf platter!

I hope you use my recipe and love it as much as my family does! Alf Saha ❤️ Cookwithdena