Yemeni Chicken Mandi with Rice
Spiced chicken, steamed and oven-browned, served over aromatic basmati rice with golden onions, almonds, and raisins. Serves 4; preparation times are estimates.
This mandi pairs chicken seasoned with hawaij with basmati rice cooked in the chicken broth. It is finished with golden onions, almonds, and raisins. Hands-on preparation is estimated at 15 minutes; the chicken rests with the spices for 30 minutes before cooking.
Method
- 01
Make the hawaij
Put the coriander seeds, cloves, cardamom pods, cumin seeds, cinnamon stick, and peppercorns in a small pan. Toast over medium heat for 1–2 minutes, moving them frequently. Let them cool, then grind to a fine powder. Mix with ½ teaspoon of ground turmeric.
5 min - 02
Season and rest the chicken
Set aside 2 teaspoons of the hawaij for the rice. Mix the rest with the salt, an additional ½ teaspoon of turmeric, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil to make a paste. Coat the chicken all over and leave it in a covered container in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
30 min - 03
Brown the onions
Heat the vegetable oil in a pot over medium heat. Add the sliced onions and fry, stirring every few minutes, until golden. Remove and drain them, leaving about 3 tablespoons of onion in the pot for the rice.
15 min - 04
Steam the chicken
Add the reserved 2 teaspoons of hawaij and the bay leaves to the pot. Cook the spices for a few minutes over medium heat. Pour in 2 cups of water, place a steaming rack in the pot, and set the chicken on it. Cover and steam for about 50 minutes; check that the chicken is cooked before removing it, and reserve the cooking liquid.
50 min - 05
Brown the chicken in the oven
Transfer the chicken to a baking tray and brush it with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Bake at 200°C for 20 minutes, then finish under the broiler for about 5 minutes, until the surface is browned.
25 min - 06
Cook the rice
Rinse the basmati rice until the water runs clear, then soak it for 10 minutes. Measure the reserved broth and add water to make 4½ cups of liquid. Bring it to a boil with the remaining turmeric and 1 teaspoon of salt. Add the rice; when it returns to a boil, cover and cook over low heat for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat, fluff the rice with a fork, and leave it covered for 10 minutes.
30 min - 07
Toast the nuts and serve
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the almonds and raisins and toast them briefly. Spread the rice on a serving platter, place the chicken on top, and finish with the golden onions, almonds, and raisins.
5 min
Ingredients
Sources and review
Content researched, cross-checked and automatically validated. Sources consulted:
- Higiene de los alimentos www.aesan.gob.es/seguridad-alimentaria/higiene-alimentos
- Yemen’s National Dish and Arabian Flavours | Remitly www.remitly.com/blog/en-au/food/national-dish-of-yemen/
- - YouTube www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfwBqRBleDM
- Yemeni Classics www.sifrafoods.com/blog/categories/yemeni-classics
- The Cook in the House! | A Yemeniyah's Recipes yemeniyah.com/about/
- What Are the Most Popular Yemeni Dishes? Top 5 Traditional Foods to Try mandiguys.com/blog/most-popular-yemeni-dishes-traditional-foods-to-try/
- Chicken Mandi (Yemeni Chicken & Rice) - Hungry Paprikas www.hungrypaprikas.com/chicken-mandi-yemeni-chicken-rice/
- 6 recetas muy ricas de yemen compartidas por cocineros caseros- Cookpad cookpad.com/es/buscar/yemen
- Gastronomía del Yemen - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastronom%C3%ADa_del_Yemen
- Salta yemení - Cocinas del Mundo (Yemen) www.lacajitadenievesyelena.com/2022/11/salta-yemeni-cocinas-del-mundo-yemen.html
- Yemen | Consumer www.consumer.es/alimentacion/yemen.html
State: Published after documentary validation; no “Tested” label is shown.