Mansaf is a Bedouin dish of the Saudi Northern Borders, closely related to the Jordanian Bedouin tradition given the shared border. Lamb is cooked in and served over a dried-yogurt (jameed) sauce with rice. It is a feast and hospitality centerpiece, served at weddings and major gatherings, and the dried-yogurt sauce (tangy, rich and distinct from any tomato or spice gravy) is the defining element. The dish is eaten communally, hands-only, from a large tray.
Tender lamb in a tangy, rich, yogurt-thick sauce over fluffy rice, the jameed giving a deep sour-savoury note, almonds and parsley on top. Eaten by hand from a shared tray, it is tangy, rich and the celebratory feast of the northern Bedouin.
The jameed (dried yogurt stone) is rehydrated and blended into a smooth, tangy sauce, which is the defining element. The lamb is simmered in the jameed sauce until tender, and the rice is cooked separately. The dish is assembled on a large tray: rice, then lamb, then the sauce poured over, garnished with fried almonds and parsley. The jameed sauce must be smooth (rehydrated and blended thoroughly) or it is grainy.
Variations
A bulgur version serves it over bulgur instead of rice. Some use shrak bread under the rice.
On the Palate
Where Mansaf Saudi sits in the Saudi flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 10How it's made
6 steps · 40 min
- 18 min
Soak 200g jameed (dried yogurt) in warm water 12 hours; drain; blend with 500ml warm water to a smooth sauce.
Watch outBlend the soaked jameed with warm water until dead smooth — grainy sauce never comes back together and stays chalky over the meat.
- 216 min
Brown 1.5kg bone-in lamb in 2 tbsp ghee; add 1 onion and 1 litre water; simmer 45 minutes.
- 325 min
Pour in the jameed sauce; add 1 tsp turmeric and salt; simmer covered 60 minutes until the lamb is tender and the sauce is thick.
Watch outSimmer in the jameed sauce until the lamb is tender and the sauce thickens — this is where the tang soaks into the meat, so don't rush it thin.
- 410 min
Cook 500g basmati rice in 700ml water with salt 18 minutes; fluff.
- 55 min
Mound the rice on a large tray; top with the lamb; pour the jameed sauce over.
- 64 min
Garnish with 50g fried almonds and chopped parsley; serve shared, eaten by hand.
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