I have come back with another Arabic dish and again a rice :-) This time it is in the form of Mansaf, the national dish of our neighbour country, Jordan!

I first came across Mansaf on Pinterest and had pinned it for later! I do a lot of reading before I attempt a foreign dish that is tied closely to their culture. I try to make it as authentic as possible else, I rather not try! That pin, was everything NOT mansaf! I unpinned it.

I have mentioned it several times and I will reiterate again many more times! When you are attempting to recreate a recipe from a different culture (be it minority or dominant), the least you can do is appreciate the original version before making enormous changes to the recipe and then call it the best version! Take the opportunity to learn about the people behind the food, the ingredients they use, the techniques they use, etc. Be inquisitive and then share to the world giving due credit to the cuisine! If the cultural appropriation of food takes momentum, food blogging would need certification! :-) 

I know it is a thin line between appreciation and appropriation! 

Ok, now let's talk about Mansaf! 

The two most essential ingredient to make this dish is Lamb and Jameed! The pin that I unpinned was "Chicken" mansaf made in yoghurt. - Maybe there are other regions that make mansaf with chicken or fish, but I read that lamb is primarily used.

Jameed is a dried salty yoghurt made from goat's milk. It needs to be soaked for a long time before it can be used. So usually the preparation for mansaf starts a day ahead. However, these days you get liquid jameed in tetra packs which make making mansaf even more easier. 

1 kg bone in Lamb meat

1 large onion, chunked

3 to 5 green cardamom 

1 large bay leaf

1 teaspoon ghee

Enough water to cover the meat

1 cup of liquid Jameed (aka Laban Jameed)

1 to 2 cups of the prepared stock 

Cooked meat 

1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon crushed black pepper 

1/2 cup yoghurt (optional)

2 cups Basmati, rinsed and soaked for 20 to 30 minutes 

4 cups of water to cook the rice 

1 tablespoon ghee

1 cardamom

1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder

Salt to taste

Almonds OR Pine nuts that are soaked and toasted lightly 

Shrak bread or any Arabic flatbread as the base

1. Add all the stock ingredients in a large deep pot and bring to boil 
2. Skim the foamy layer that forms at the top with a ladle. This is to remove any impurities. 
3. Boil for at least 30 minutes
4. Fish out the meat chunks and keep aside
5. Strain the stock 

Make the Jameed Sauce 

1. Add back the stock to the same pot along with liquid jameed, cooked meat and turmeric powder
2. Let it cook on low flame until thickened and meat is tender to fall off the bone

Prepare the Yellow Rice 

1. Boil water with ghee, salt and turmeric 
2. Add the drained rice and cook until done 

Assemble Mansaf 

1. Place the flatbread on a communal platter
2. Spread the rice 
3. lamb pieces along with jameed sauce 
4. almonds or pine nuts 
5. Serve along with the excess jameed sauce

How to eat Mansaf?

Javaher Polow is the most popular Persian rice and is also known as Bride's rice! You can't deny that, look at those vibrant colours! I learnt that this Persian Jewelled Rice is traditionally served at weddings and family gatherings and so this is one of the celebration food of Iran! The Scorched rice or Tah-dig is the signature Persian rice character that is commonly called the golden crust. This rice can be made without the tah-dig too.


After Ragee left us, I have not had the courage to change the blog tagline or the FB page name or the Instagram bio description :-( Each time I click on "edit" and then I cancel and let it be. I even contemplated to pull the plug off from blogging as I was losing the spark...But something happened that changed my mind... 

Shanaz Rafiq of Love to Cook requested for a guest post for her Guest Chef Series!

What did I do for this??? I am so honoured!

I chanced upon her blog through her Chicken 65 Biryani! I think I have already mentioned about her in my Cucumber Dosa post. But for the new readers, her blog is a treasure trove of spicy Indian food and not to forget her amazing Youtube channel with great videos that you will find it so easy to follow!

I happily agreed but I knew I was going to go into a bout of restlessness... and nag F to help me decide a dish! :-)

As I don't hoard drafts, I had to ask her for more time to work on a recipe. I really feel her request was the jump start to get back on the blogging track. :-)

I knew she would love something from Arabic food world and so had started listing the possible ideas. One of our conversations, she suggested that I share a rice dish! I can't thank enough, it put me in so much ease! All I had to do was get to my Rice board on Pinterest and make the much-awaited Javaher Polow!


The ingredients list is long and the method may sound complicated, but trust me when I say it is easy if you have some basics of making rice. I made this dish twice! The first time, for Friday lunch - the pictures all turned out hideous!


Doesn't do any justice to the title of the dish right? So made again on Sunday solely for the blog and I am okay with how the pictures have turned out. :-P

And guess what, I had completely forgotten to check her blog if she already had this dish! LOL Thankfully, right after my first attempt I checked her index and was super happy to find so many other Persian recipes on her blog which will be awesome accompaniment with this rice!

So go ahead and take a minute to visit Shanaz's website for the recipe of this celebration food of Iran, Javaher Polow and how to make Tah-dig, the golden crust of rice which is the epitome of all Persian rice!

December! We have come to the end of another year and the start of a new year for MFB Challenge! This month's theme was to make any Arabic Sweets! If I had an oven, I would have tried Baklava hands-down. My next choice would have been Kunafa, my most favourite! But for now, I settled to remake Layali Lubnan for the blog.


Layali Lubnan or Lebanese Nights is a popular semolina based pudding of the Middle East and is made in a few different ways. I am not sure if it has been evident with my food trials, so let me state the fact - I love Lebanese cuisine. Lebanese Nights is an amazingly aromatic dessert that is simple and yet delectable and has a rich taste coming from subtle hints of Mastic or Arabic Gum, orange blossom water and rose water. In some regions, it also goes by the name, Madlouah.

The pudding is layered with semolina on the bottom, topped with cream and then decorated with some pistachios and drizzled with atter, the middle eastern's aromatic sugar syrup. When I first came across this sweet dish, I did not have mastic and nor did I know what was the "cream" that they used. Then it slipped off the must-try list only to surface again during Ramadan!

View this post on Instagram

#layalilubnan or #madlouah or #lebaneseNights to feed my #semolina craving! Inspired by @shabosphere stories. I have added #mastic because we love it. ❤️😎🤤🤤🤤This is milk version of #krazia and has a layer of #tablecream on the top with #groundpistachio and #aromaticsyrup for the garnish. A perfect #dessert for the long nights...

A post shared by Famidha Ashraf (@fashfaiz) on Jun 18, 2017 at 4:15pm PDT

There is no reason why I should not make this again for the blog and the challenge because you know - I love semolina, I have enough mastic now and I also figured what is the "cream" they use to top the pudding.

The variations that I have come across on the web range from adding an egg to the pudding base, using whipped cream to top the pudding, using Ashta or Kashta (clotted cream) to top the pudding or mixing the Ashta with table cream to top the pudding. But the three flavours of mastic, orange blossom and rose water seemed to be highly recommended.

After my first attempt that I shared on IG, I made a big batch for a dinner party at Z's home. I mixed the syrup with cream to top the pudding so that I can avoid carrying an additional container. I also added the ground pistachio much earlier which got wet in the cream and it looked gross. Though she said it tasted yum, I was heartbroken it didn't look anywhere near to how I wanted. Lessons learnt. Do not try shortcuts on an already simple recipe :-D


No one seems to know why this dessert is called the Lebanese Nights but the most accepted reason is that this dessert celebrates the colours of the Lebanese flag. So the white pudding, green pistachios and for the red, traditionally they use the orange blossom petal jam or rose petal jam (Now, this will be my next hunt) I didn't have to think much for a sub when we have our rubies in plenty! :-P Pomegranate!

This time I chose to make them in individual servings to curb our intake. As it stays good in the fridge, I can have these over at least two to three days. We shared one bowl of Layali Lubnan for a late night dessert. It was silky smooth and creamy soft. The next day, I couldn't resist the temptation and reached for the small bowl for my lunch. The third bowl? Well, we were having some silly cold shoulders ramp walk and so I just gulped down without offering him. Not guilty but felt sorry for him. ;-P


This version I am sharing today is eggless and I have used the Cream that we get in small tins here. I wanted to make my own Ashta but did not have enough milk at that time. InshaAllah, will try and update this post.

Layali Lubnan making demands a few minutes of undivided attention, both while making the pudding base and the sugar syrup. A little distraction and you have high chances to ruin the dish. But this is the easiest make-ahead dessert!


Adapted from reading multiple sources and  Good Cooks

1 and 1/2 cup milk 

1/4 cup fine semolina 

2 tablespoon sugar 

1 to 2 mastic tear, crushed (optional)

2 teaspoon orange blossom water 

1 teaspoon rose water

1/2 cup sugar 

1/4 cup water

1 crushed cardamom 

a squeeze of lemon juice 

1 teaspoon of rose water or orange blossom water

Orange blossom petal jam or rose petal jam or use some Pomegranate arils for the colour pop!

METHOD

1. Keep the pudding tray or the individual bowls ready to be used on the counter 
2. Crush the mastic tear with the back of a spoon
3. Heat the milk in a heavy-bottomed deep saucepan over medium heat until it is just warm to touch. 
4. Slowly stir in the rest of the pudding base ingredients while continuing to stir until the mixture reaches the boiling point. 
5. Continue to stir on low to medium flame and add more rose water or orange blossom water if required. 
6. Ensure no lumps are formed and so keep stirring until the mixture thickens slightly. It will thicken as it gets cold, so don't cook for too long. Just thick enough that it coats the back of the spoon. 
7. Pour the pudding base mixture into the tray or divide equally into each of the bowls 
8. Let it cool on the counter and then move them into the fridge.