מנסף
The national dish of Jordan and the centrepiece of Bedouin hospitality: tender lamb slow-cooked in a tangy sauce of jameed — hard, dried fermented yogurt — then served over flatbread and spiced rice, drenched in the warm yogurt sauce and showered with toasted almonds and pine nuts. Mansaf is a communal feast, eaten from a vast shared platter, and the unmistakable sharp-savoury tang of jameed is what sets it apart from every other lamb-and-rice dish.
Simmer lamb (on the bone) with onion and warm spices until tender and you have a broth. Soak and dissolve jameed (dried fermented yogurt) into a smooth liquid, or use a good thick yogurt stabilised with a little cornflour and egg so it doesn't split. Combine the jameed sauce with the lamb broth and warm it very gently, stirring constantly in one direction so it never boils hard (which would curdle it). Lay flatbread (shrak) on a big platter, top with spiced rice, then the lamb, ladle over plenty of the hot jameed sauce, and scatter with toasted almonds, pine nuts and parsley. Serve communally with extra sauce.
- Jameed (hard dried fermented yogurt) is the soul — soak and dissolve it; nothing else gives the same sharp tang.
- Warm the yogurt sauce gently, stirring one direction, and never let it boil hard, or it will curdle.
- Serve over flatbread and rice on a communal platter, drenched in sauce and topped with toasted nuts.
Equipment
- Large pot
- Bowl (to dissolve jameed)
- Large serving platter
מצרכים
Lamb
- 1.2 kg lamb on the bone, in pieces
- 1 onion; bay, cardamom, cinnamon, peppercorns; salt
Jameed sauce
- 400 g jameed (dried fermented yogurt), soaked — or 750 g thick yogurt
- If using fresh yogurt: 1 tbsp cornflour + 1 egg white (to stabilise)
To serve
- Shrak or markook flatbread
- 500 g rice, cooked (with a little spice)
- Toasted almonds and pine nuts; parsley
אופן ההכנה
- שלב01
Simmer the lamb with the onion and whole spices in water until very tender, about 1.5–2 hours, skimming. Keep the lamb and its broth.
- שלב02
Soak the jameed in water until softened, then blend and strain into a smooth liquid (or whisk thick yogurt with the cornflour and egg white to stabilise it).
- שלב03
Combine the jameed liquid with some of the lamb broth in a pot and warm it slowly, stirring constantly in one direction. Do NOT let it boil hard — keep it just below a simmer so the yogurt sauce stays smooth and doesn't curdle. Simmer the lamb in it briefly to meld.
- שלב04
Lay flatbread over a large platter and moisten it with a little sauce. Spread the spiced rice over the bread, then arrange the lamb on top.
- שלב05
Ladle plenty of the hot jameed sauce generously over everything, and scatter with toasted almonds, pine nuts and parsley. Serve communally, with a bowl of extra warm sauce to pour over as you eat.
Make ahead
Cook the lamb and broth ahead (it improves), and you can prepare the jameed sauce in advance, reheating it very gently to serve. Assemble the platter fresh — warm bread, hot rice, hot lamb, hot sauce — just before serving. Mansaf is festive food made for feeding a crowd from one platter.
Storage
Keeps 3 days refrigerated; reheat the components gently. Crucially, reheat the jameed sauce slowly without boiling, stirring, so it doesn't split. The lamb and rice reheat easily. The sauce keeps and is traditionally poured warm over each serving. Toast the nuts fresh and warm the bread to serve.
Variations
Chicken mansaf
A lighter, quicker version made with chicken instead of lamb.
Fresh-yogurt sauce
If you can't get jameed, use thick yogurt stabilised with cornflour and egg — close, though jameed's tang is unique.
Goat
Traditionally also made with young goat (especially for big celebrations).
Serve with
Nutrition per serving
Nutrition values are estimates based on the metric measurements. Adjust as needed.
שאלות נפוצות
What is jameed?
Jameed is hard, dried fermented yogurt — yogurt that's been salted, drained, fermented and shaped into rock-hard balls, then reconstituted in water for cooking. It gives mansaf its distinctive sharp, savoury, tangy sauce, unlike anything fresh yogurt produces. It's sold at Middle Eastern shops (often as balls or a paste); it's the irreplaceable heart of the dish.
How do I stop the yogurt sauce from curdling?
Heat is the enemy. Warm the jameed (or yogurt) sauce slowly and stir constantly, ideally in one direction, and never let it come to a hard boil — keep it just below a simmer. If using fresh yogurt instead of jameed, stabilise it first by whisking in a little cornflour and egg white, which helps it hold together when heated.
Can I make mansaf without jameed?
You can approximate it with a good thick yogurt (or labneh) stabilised with cornflour and egg white and sharpened with a little lemon, but the flavour won't be identical — jameed's deep, salty, fermented tang is what defines authentic mansaf. If you can find jameed at a Middle Eastern grocer, it's well worth using for the real thing.
How is mansaf traditionally served and eaten?
It's a communal dish: flatbread is layered on a huge platter, topped with rice and lamb, drenched in the warm jameed sauce and scattered with toasted nuts. Everyone gathers around the shared platter and eats from their section, traditionally with the right hand, rolling rice and lamb into small balls. Extra warm sauce is poured over throughout.
What cut of lamb is best?
Lamb on the bone — shoulder, leg pieces, neck or shank — which gives the most flavour to both the meat and the broth, and turns tender over the long, gentle simmer. The bones enrich the stock that becomes part of the sauce. Bone-in pieces are traditional; the meat should be falling-tender by the time it's served.
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