Yemeni · main

Mandi (Smoked Pit-Style Lamb and Rice)

Mandi (Smoked Pit-Style Lamb and Rice) reads umami 6.5, richness 6.0 and warm spice 4.7 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Yemeni main, about 5 hr 4 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

• Umami & Savory — 7.1 / 10
• Sweet & Fruity — 5.3 / 10
• Sour & Bright — 5.5 / 10
• Bitter & Earthy — 2.3 / 10
• Rich & Fat — 6.9 / 10
• Aromatic & Spice — 5.2 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Umami 6.5 · Richness 6.0 · Warm Spice 4.7 · Salinity 4.6 · Sweetness 4.3 · Citrus 4.3 · Sourness 4.1 · Floral 3.5 · Fruity 3.2 · Nutty 3.2 · Allium 2.6 · Earthy 2.0 · Funk & Ferment 1.3 · Bitterness 1.2 · Herbaceous 1.0

What's in it (16)

• lamb shoulder roast — 1500 g
• hawaij for meat — 30 g
• salt — 15 g
• sunflower oil — 27 g
• long grain basmati rice — 500 g
• onion — 120 g
• cardamom pods — 600 g
• cinnamon — 3 g
• cloves — 400 g
• limes — 130 g
• saffron threads — 5 g
• water — 1500 g
• salt — 10 g
• raisins — 60 g
• blanched almonds — 60 g
• natural lump charcoal

Time & effort: about 5 hr 4 min (3 hr 49 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 191.7 kcal, 9.9 g protein, 8.3 g fat, 23.6 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (8 steps)

1. Mandi is properly cooked in a taboon — a clay-lined pit with a wood fire burned down to embers, the meat hung above the rice and the whole thing sealed under earth for hours, so the rice cooks in nothing but the dripping fat. The oven method below reproduces the sequence; the final charcoal smoking reproduces the smell, and it is not optional if you want mandi rather than pilaf.
2. Rub the lamb all over with the hawaij, the meat salt and the oil and leave 1 hour.
3. Heat the oven to 160°C. Bring the 1.5 litres of water to a boil with the onion, cardamom, cinnamon stick, cloves and the pierced dried limes, and simmer 10 minutes to make an aromatic broth. Loomi are sun-dried whole limes, sold at any Middle Eastern grocer; they give a musty sourness nothing else provides.
4. Set a deep roasting tin with the broth in the bottom of the oven, lay a rack over it and put the lamb on the rack so it sits directly above the liquid. Cook 3 hours, until the meat pulls away from the bone. The fat and juices drip down and season the broth throughout.
5. Lift the lamb aside and keep warm. Strain the broth, measure 900 ml and return it to the tin with the rice salt, the soaked drained rice, the saffron and its water, and the raisins. Cover tightly with foil and bake 25 minutes, then rest 15 minutes without uncovering.
6. Toast the almonds in a dry pan for 4 minutes until gold.
7. Now smoke it. Heat the piece of charcoal over a flame until it glows red all over, about 5 minutes. Set a small metal bowl in the middle of the rice, drop the charcoal in, spoon a teaspoon of the lamb fat over it so it billows, and cover the whole pan immediately. Leave 10 minutes.
8. Uncover, remove the bowl, fork the rice through, set the lamb on top and scatter with the almonds. Serve with sahawiq.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

• Vegetable Massaman Curry with Tofu — Thai
• Coda alla Vaccinara — Italian · Rome
• Soto Betawi (Betawi Beef and Coconut Milk Soup) — Indonesian
• Kozhi Varuval with Kalpasi (Dry-Fried Chicken, Chettinad) — Indian · Chettinad
• Harissa-Glazed Pork Chops — Middle Eastern

Keep reading: what umami, richness, warm spice mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.