How to make Mansaf

Ingredients

• 1.5 kg lamb on the bone (shoulder or leg), cut into large pieces
• 1 onion, halved, 2 bay leaves, 4 cardamom pods and 1 teaspoon allspice berries
• For the sauce: 1 ball of jameed (about 250 g), soaked overnight and blended with water until smooth, or 1 kg thick plain yogurt mixed with 1 tablespoon cornflour and 1 teaspoon salt
• 500 g long-grain rice, rinsed
• 2 tablespoons ghee or butter, ½ teaspoon turmeric and salt
• 2 large sheets of shrak or other very thin flatbread
• 50 g blanched almonds and 30 g pine nuts, toasted in a little ghee
• Chopped parsley to garnish

Method

1. Cover the lamb with cold water, bring to the boil and skim off the foam. Add the onion, bay leaves, cardamom and allspice, and simmer gently for about 1 hour. (Soak the jameed the night before.)
2. Lift out the lamb and strain the broth. In a large pot, heat the jameed or yogurt mixture over a medium heat, stirring all the time in one direction so it does not split, until it just simmers.
3. Add the lamb and about 500 ml of the broth to the sauce and simmer gently for another 45 minutes, until the meat is very tender. Taste for salt: jameed is already salty.
4. Meanwhile, fry the rice in the ghee with the turmeric for 2 minutes, add 750 ml of broth or water and a little salt, cover and cook on a low heat for 15 to 18 minutes.
5. Lay the bread on a large round tray and moisten it with a few ladles of sauce. Pile the rice on top, arrange the lamb over it and scatter with the almonds, pine nuts and parsley.
6. Serve at once, with the rest of the hot sauce in a bowl for everyone to pour over. Nut allergy: leave out the almonds and pine nuts.