Mandi is a highly delicious, Smokey, and fragrant Arabic dish with Yemeni origins. It consists mostly of rice topped with either meat, chicken, or fish. Laham refers to lamb meat, while Mandi is a traditional meal from Hadhramaut, Yemen, consisting mostly of meat and rice cooked in a pit underground with a unique combination of flavors, especially the usage of the herb “Hawaij”. The term “mandi” is derived from the Arabic word “nada,” which means “dew,” and refers to the meat’s wet, ‘dewy’ quality. It is highly popular and widespread throughout the Arabian Peninsula, and is even regarded a staple meal in many locations. This dish is quite popular in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Oman, Bahrain, India, and Turkey.
To improve the flavor, the meat used in this meal preparation is generally a young and modest sized lamb. The major method that distinguishes mandi from other meat meals is that the meat is tender in the tandoor, which is a particular type of oven that is typically a pit excavated in the ground and coated with clay all around its edges. To taste, raisins, pine nuts, or almonds can be added to the rice. In Saudi Arabia, mandi is the primary meal offered during important occasions such as Festivals, marriages, and celebrations. The dish pairs nicely with a sauce, such as salata hara or tomato chutney.
The following restaurants are well-known in my neighborhood for offering great Laham mandi meals:
