Jameed Mansaf — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

The authentic Jordanian national dish in its most traditional form, with lamb slow-cooked in reconstituted jameed (dried fermented yogurt) sauce, served over flatbread and rice.

Ingredients

2kg lamb shoulder, bone-in pieces
3 balls jameed (dried yogurt)
4 cups basmati rice
4 rounds shrak flatbread
1/2 cup almonds, toasted
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
2 tbsp ghee
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp allspice
Salt to taste
Fresh parsley for garnish

Instructions

1 Soak the jameed balls in warm water for several hours, then blend until smooth and strain through a fine sieve to create a tangy yogurt sauce.
2 Boil the lamb pieces in water with turmeric, allspice, and salt for about an hour until tender, then add the jameed sauce and simmer gently for 30 more minutes, being careful not to let it boil vigorously.
3 Cook the rice in lamb broth with ghee until fluffy, and toast the almonds and pine nuts in butter until golden.
4 Layer the shrak bread on a massive serving platter, top with rice, arrange the lamb pieces on top, pour the jameed sauce over everything, and garnish with toasted nuts and parsley.

Did You Know?

Mansaf is eaten communally with the right hand in traditional Jordanian culture, and guests are expected to eat standing up, forming balls of rice and meat with their fingers in a specific technique.