Mansaf – the celebratory food

Yes, you read it right. Mansaf is not just a regular meal served to your family. It is a celebratory food and is often served at weddings, graduations or prepared for special guests during Ramadan. It is undoubtedly a dish you can’t miss out on when you are in Jordan. I am not saying that Mansaf is the single dish you have to eat in Jordan, but is definitely the top choice if you had to choose just one. You should not leave Jordan without feasting on this local delicacy.Mansaf is a traditional Palestine dish. And when a dish originates from a land rich in milk and honey, you’ll find abundant quantity of these ingredients in the recipe as well. This meal is as ancient as the land, and has evolved and tells you how people used to eat long ago. Mansaf is boiled lamb served in a rich sauce served with yoghurt. Today it is served over a bed of rice, but since rice is a relative newcomer to the Middle East, it was probably originally served with kuboos bread. Like most traditional food, Mansaf is also eaten with hands. The sauce is made from traditionally hardened yoghurt and is the real centre of attraction in this dish, in which the lamb is simmered and served along. In ancient Palestine, milk provided valuable nourishment and was converted into yoghurt, kefir, cheese and clarified butter. To preserve these milk products, a technique called jammed was used. Firstly, the milk was fermented into yoghurt, then strand into labani and then fermented and processed again by salting daily and continuing to strain with cheese cloth to remove additional whey. Once it becomes firm enough, it is formed into balls and then set out in sun to dry until it becomes hard and dried till the centre. Using this method, large quantities of milk was concentrated into hardened yoghurt balls that are also known as “rock cheese,” which can be rehydrated for a meal of Mansaf anytime. Even today, this cheese is made by Bedouins and villagers, is sold throughout the West Bank and Jerusalem in local markets. Mansaf has a strong flavour and is an acquired taste. The choice of protein is usually chicken or lamb and is prepared in a yoghurt sauce and served with either rice or bread. One Indian curry that is similar to this is the Kasmiri Lamb Rista, which is fine grounded lamb meat balls slow simmered in yoghurt sauce. The cooks who specialise in Kashmiri cuisine are known as wazwan and only a few of them are left in the valley now. This dish is simple to prepare and a treat to consume with its unique taste and rich flavours.Lamb MansafIngredientsServes 2Lamb cubes 600 gmClarified butter 2 tbspGarlic 1-2 cloveCardamom 1 tspAll spice powder 1/2 tspCinnamon powder 1/4 tspBay leaves 2-3 noButter 3 tbspFlour 3 tbspSalt to tasteCrushed pepper to tasteFlour 3 tbspYoghurt 4 cupsVermicelli rice 4 cupsGarnishPine nuts 1/3 cupParsley to garnishMethodSeason the lamb cubes with cardamom, cinnamon, all spice, salt and pepper. Drizzle with clarified butter and keep aside. Heat the clarified butter in a heavy bottom pan and brown lamb from all the sides over high heat.Pour a cup of lamb stock or water onto the lamb and place in a baking dish and add bay leaves. Roast for an hour or until the lamb is tender. You can choose to braise your meat over stove top until tender. While the lamb is simmering, prepare the yoghurt sauce. Break the yoghurt by blending it on high speed for 2 to 3 minutes and keep aside.In a sauce pot, heat oil over medium flame, melt three tablespoons of butter in the pot and stir in three tablespoon of flour; cook for a couple of minutes. Slowly add the blended yoghurt. Add in a little at a time. Keep stirring as the mixture comes to boil. Continue till all the yoghurt is in the pot; stir continuously as the yoghurt can burn quickly if not stirred.Boil the sauce for 10-15 minutes, add crushed garlic cloves.When the lamb is tender, remove from heat. You can also add a cup of the lamb stock to the prepared yoghurt sauce.To serve, arrange the vermicelli rice in a platter and arrange the lamb pieces on top and pour the prepared yoghurt sauce on top.Garnish with roasted pine nuts and chopped parsley leaves and serve hot.Note: This yoghurt sauce is similar to the béchamel sauce. You simply make a roux with butter and flour and then add yoghurt to it and bring to boil. You can also compare it to macaroni and cheese. It is important to blend the yoghurt and bring it to boil. If you don’t boil the yoghurt, the sauce can curdle. But if it does don’t worry, the sauce will still taste good. The sauce should also be stirred in one direction to avoid curdling of the sauce.