Iftar in Ramadhan is also the best way to spoil your family with good food. After a long day of fasting, everyone craves for a delicious meal that would keep them nourish until the next meal. In today’s Cook Like a Chef, we are presenting this dish you usually would just find in restaurants. While the process may seem long and tedious, we can assure you it’s going to be worth your effort..
Ingredients
1 Kg of lamb on the bone
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon cardamom pods, crushed
1 teaspoon whole cloves
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 bay leaves
2 small cinnamon sticks
1 tbsp black peppercorns
2 Ltr Water
2 cups of Greek yoghurt
3 teaspoons arrowroot powder
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 handful fresh mint, chopped
Roasted Nuts
½ cup almonds, skins removed
½ cup pine nuts
1 tablespoon butter or ghee
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Rice
4 cups rice
½ teaspoon ground saffron
1 tablespoon ghee
1 teaspoon sea salt
6 cups water
For Serving
1 piece of markook bread
1 handful of fresh parsley, chopped
¼ cup dried currant
Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
Trim Mansaf Meat & Broth
Start by filleting pieces of lamb meat from off the bone, but keep the bone for cooking. Pre-season the lamb with salt and pepper
Take a large pot over medium-high heat and add a dash of olive oil
Once hot, start with your onion and garlic. Sauté for several minutes for 1-2 minutes as they start to sweat and become fragrant
Next, add your lamb. Move your onions and garlic to the side to let your lamb directly hit the heat of the bottom of the pan. Sear your lamb for 4-5 minutes as it starts to brown
As the lamb browns, add your cumin, cloves, cardamom, bay leaves and cinnamon stick. Stir well for ~30 seconds to get the spices well integrated into the lamb, onions and garlic
Then, add enough water to the pot to cover all your ingredients. Bring the heat to high and bring the entire pot to a boil. As the water boils, a white froth will come to the top of your boiling liquid. Scoop this liquid out with a spoon as much as you can
After 2-3 minutes of boiling and fishing out the froth, reduce the heat to a simmer and cover your pot. Simmer everything together for at least 1 hour
Rice
Start by grinding the saffron with a pinch of salt in the mortar and pestle
Pour a bit of hot (slightly under boiling temperature) water over the saffron
As the flavours of the saffron come alive, take a small pot of water over high heat and bring to a boil
When the water is boiling, pour your rice into the pot along with the warm saffron water
Stir the rice and saffron water around in the boiling water until the entire pot has a nice orange hue to it, then
Reduce the heat to a low simmer, then add the salt and butter. Cover and let the rice simmer for ~20 minutes
While the rice cooks, take a pan over medium heat and add a tablespoon of butter. Once the butter is hot, lower your heat and add your pine nuts and skinned almonds
Continually toss the nuts around as they start to toast, which should take about 3-4 minutes. As you toss and toast, sprinkle your cinnamon over the nuts if you wish to add it
When the nuts have browned slightly and roasted, take off the heat and set them aside
After 20 minutes, uncover and fluff your rice. Re-cover and let the rice steam further until the rest of the Mansaf is ready
Yoghurt Sauce
After at least an hour of simmering, pour your pot of what has now become a lamb broth through a colander into a large bowl
From the colander, fish the pieces of lamb pieces out and place back into the pot
Add ½ of the strained stock back into the pot and bring the pot back to a simmered heat
Take a separate pot over low heat and add a mixture of your Greek yoghurt and remaining strained stock. Stir well so as to evenly heat the yoghurt and to mix it well with the stock to create a thickened liquid
Once heated, pour the yoghurt liquid into the larger pot with the lamb and mix well through. Simmer for 5 minutes
After 5 minutes, add your arrowroot powder and stir well through. Simmer for another 5 minutes as the sauce begins to thicken
Finally, take the pot off the heat and add in your mint and stir well
To Serve the Mansaf
Start by laying the markook bread flat in a platter or dish
Next, layer your rice on top of the bread
On top of the rice, ladle pieces of lamb meat followed by spoonsful of the yoghurt sauce.
And sprinkle the roasted nuts and fresh parsley over the Mansaf.
ABOUT
THE CHEF
Chef Abdul Farash
Oriental Chef
Sheraton Hotel Oman
Chef Abdul Farash grew up in Amman, Jordan where his mom and grandma set him on his path of loving food and cooking for others. Chef Abdul Farash grandma’s home was really an outlet for the community. His grandma was always cooking and bringing people together which became an inspiration to Chef Abdul’s approach to hospitality.
Chef Abdul loves to make food inspired by his childhood and for every recipe he makes, he gives it a Jordanian twist showing pride in his heritage.
Chef Abdul recently joined as an Oriental Chef at Sheraton Oman with great experiences in the past working in different Gulf countries. His innovative touches help transform the heritage experience of guest in Sheraton’s Courtyard Kitchen.
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