Chicken Mandi (Smoky Yemeni-Gulf Rice and Chicken)
چکن مندی
Mandi comes from Yemen, where meat is traditionally cooked in a sealed underground oven (a *tannour*) above the rice, so the juices drip into it and everything takes on a light smoky flavour. Today it's one of the most popular dishes across Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Oman and the rest of the Gulf, and Arabic mandi restaurants have opened from Karachi to London. At home you can get very close with a well-spiced chicken, rice cooked in its own stock, and a few minutes of charcoal smoke, the same trick South Asian cooks call *dhungar*.
- ⏱ Total: 1 hr 50 min
- Prep: 20 min
- Cook: 1 hr 30 min
- Medium
- Serves 6
Method
Tap a step when it is done.
Mix the ground spices with 1 tsp salt and 1 tbsp oil and rub all over the chicken, under the skin too. Leave for at least 1 hour (or overnight in the fridge).
Heat the remaining oil in a large pot and fry the onion for 5 minutes. Add the chicken, dried limes, cardamom pods, cloves, bay leaves and water. Simmer covered for 30 minutes until the chicken is just cooked.
Lift out the chicken onto an oven tray. Measure 4½ cups of the stock back into the pot (top up with water if needed), add the remaining salt and bring to a boil.
Add the drained rice, cover tightly and cook on the lowest heat for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, roast the chicken at 220°C for 20–25 minutes until deep golden.
For the smoky flavour, heat the charcoal until glowing, put it in a small foil cup on top of the rice, drizzle with a few drops of oil and cover tightly for 5 minutes (). Remove the charcoal.
For the daqqus, blend the tomatoes, chillies, garlic and a pinch of salt. Serve the rice on a large platter with the chicken on top and the salsa on the side.
Kitchen notes
Dried limes (loomi) give mandi and kabsa their faintly sour, smoky depth. They're sold in Arab, Persian and many South Asian shops.
Keep the lid tight while the rice cooks; the steam is what makes the grains long and separate.
Mandi is eaten from a shared platter, often by hand, with the salsa and plain yogurt or laban.
From Yemen to the Gulf
Mandi takes its name from nada, dew, a reference to the moist, tender meat produced by slow cooking in a sealed pit. In Yemen’s Hadramaut region, the meat hangs above the rice in a clay oven buried in the ground, so the fat and juices drip onto the rice while it cooks in the smoke. Over the last few decades, mandi has spread across the Arabian Peninsula and beyond, and it’s now a staple of Arabic restaurants worldwide.
Mandi at home
Without an underground oven, the method is in three parts: spice and simmer the chicken to make a rich stock, cook the rice in that stock so it takes on the flavour, and roast the chicken separately until golden. A short charcoal smoke over the rice brings back the smoky character. South Asian readers will recognise the trick as dhungar, used for dishes like daal and kebabs.
The spice blend
Mandi spices are gentle: cumin, coriander, black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon and a little turmeric. Dried limes and whole cardamom in the stock give the distinctive Gulf aroma.
Serving
Serve on a large platter with the tomato and chilli salsa (daqqus), plain yogurt or laban, and a green salad. Finish with dates and Arabic coffee. For the more spiced Saudi cousin, try kabsa.
Questions people ask
How is mandi different from kabsa?
Mandi is milder and smokier, cooked so the meat juices flavour the rice. Kabsa is cooked with tomato and more spices, so the rice is redder and more seasoned.
Can I make it with lamb?
Yes. Lamb mandi is the classic. Simmer the lamb for 1½–2 hours until tender before roasting.
Is mandi spicy?
No. It's fragrant and mild; heat comes from the daqqus salsa on the side.
Nutrition (estimate, per serving)
- Calories
- 640
- Protein
- 40 g
- Fat
- 20 g
- Carbs
- 72 g
