Mandi
Chicken Mandi Rice مندي دجاج.JPG
Chicken Mandi
CourseLunch or dinner
Place of originYemen
Region or stateHadhramaut
Main ingredientsRice, meat (lamb or chicken), saffron and a mixture of Hawaij[1]
Chicken is suspended in the air and cooked from the steam and heat under it.
Chicken is suspended in the air and cooked from the steam and heat under it.
A pit built for mandi
A pit built for mandi

Mandi (Arabic: مندي) is a traditional dish that originated from Hadhramaut, Yemen.[2] consisting mainly of meat and rice with a special blend of spices, cooked in a pit underground. It is popular and commonly consumed in most areas of the Arabian Peninsula, especially between the Hadhrami people, and even considered a staple dish in many regions. It is also found in Egypt, the Levant, Turkey, Southeast Asia, and India.[3]

Homemade mandi from Yemen
Homemade mandi from Yemen

Etymology

The word "mandi" comes from the Arabic word "nada", meaning "dew", and reflects the moist 'dewy' texture of the meat.[4]

Technique

Mandi was usually made from rice, meat (lamb, camel, goat or chicken), and a mixture of spices called hawaij. The main technique that differentiates mandi from other meat dishes is that the meat is cooked in the tannour.

Dry wood (traditionally samer or gadha) is placed in the tandoor and burned to generate heat turning the wood into charcoal.

The meat is then boiled with whole spices until tender, and the spiced stock is then used to cook the basmati rice at the bottom of the tandoor. The meat is suspended inside the tandoor above the rice and without touching the charcoal. After that, the whole tandoor is then closed with clay for up to eight hours.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Chicken Mandi | Unilever Food Solutions". Archived from the original on 2019-05-09. Retrieved 2019-05-09.
  2. ^ Salloum, Habeeb (2012-02-28). Arabian Nights Cookbook: From Lamb Kebabs to Baba Ghanouj, Delicious Homestyle Arabian Cooking. Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 9781462905249.
  3. ^ George, Anubha. "How a Yemeni rice dish became Kerala's favourite biryani". Scroll.in. Retrieved 2023-04-03.
  4. ^ "Mandi on my mind". gulfnews.com. Retrieved Jun 5, 2021.