Auntie Anwaar’s Mansaf Risotto

Name: Auntie Anwaar’s Mansaf Risotto
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Total time: 1 h 45 min
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Jordan
Ingredients: 30 g/1 oz/2 tbsp salted butter; 850 g/1 lb 14 oz lamb shank(s); 10 garlic cloves, 5 left whole and 5 pounded using a pestle and mortar or crushed; 2 carrots, roughly chopped; 1 onion, quartered; sea salt and freshly ground black pepper; 1 cinnamon stick; 1 bay leaf; 6 cardamom pods; 750 ml/26 fl oz/3¼ cups Greek yogurt; 1 tsp turmeric; 200 g/7 oz/1 cup short-grain or risotto rice; 3 tbsp pine nuts; 1 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch, if needed; 1 egg; mint leaves, finely chopped, to sprinkle; 2 loaves of warm Arabic Bread; juice of 2 lemons; 3 tbsp blanched almonds

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Medium
Ready in
1 hr 45

Appears in

The Jewelled Kitchen

By Bethany Kehdy

Published 2013

About

Traditionally, this quintessentially Bedouin dish is prepared using jmeed, which is a dried yogurt or buttermilk sometimes called rock cheese. Anwaar Younis gave me her recipe for Jordan’s national dish, which I’ve tweaked a little. Mansaf is a communal dish and a great symbol of generosity that is often served on special occasions. Sometimes eaten with the right hand, the meat i