recipes · rice

Yemeni chicken mandi

Chicken legs in a saffron and cumin marinade, baked on a rack over spiced broth, then over the basmati rice so all the juices soak into it. Generous and high in protein.

Golden chicken on yellow spiced rice
Photo by Dr Muhammad Amer on Unsplash. It's a free stock photo, not a photo of my own cooking.
  • About 1 h 10, plus 1 hour for the marinade
  • ≈ 1000 kcal a portion
  • 45 g protein a portion

Portions

Dinner for 2, plus 2 lunch boxes

4

≈ €10 for 4 portions rough supermarket prices in Europe, cupboard basics not counted

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Ingredients

The chicken marinade

  • 4 chicken legs
  • 60 ml water (¼ cup)
  • 60 ml vegetable oil (¼ cup)
  • ½ tsp each: saffron, cumin, paprika, turmeric, black pepper
  • ¼ tsp saffron colouring or Sazón
  • ½ tbsp salt

The mandi rice

  • 500 g basmati rice, soaked for 30 minutes
  • ½ onion, chopped
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 8 cardamom pods
  • 10 cloves
  • 2 small bell peppers
  • 2 chilli peppers
  • 1 whole head of garlic
  • 840 ml water (3½ cups)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp vegetable bouillon
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • saffron or saffron colouring, to finish

To finish (optional)

  • 2 tbsp melted butter, for the chicken
  • fresh parsley, to garnish

Method

  1. 1

    Marinate the chicken

    Mix the marinade ingredients and rub them all over the chicken, under the skin too. Leave in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

  2. 2

    Prepare the roasting pan

    Heat the oven to 200 °C (400 °F). In a roasting pan, put the onion, the whole spices (cinnamon, bay leaves, cardamom, cloves), the peppers, the chillies, the head of garlic and the water. Set a rack on top and lay the chicken on the rack. Cover with parchment paper, then foil.

  3. 3

    Bake the chicken

    Bake for 30 minutes. While it bakes, soak the basmati rice, then rinse it.

  4. 4

    Add the rice

    Lift off the rack with the chicken. Add the rice to the pan with the salt, bouillon, black pepper and cumin, and mix gently. Put the chicken back on top, cover again, and bake for 20 more minutes.

  5. 5

    Finish

    Sprinkle the saffron over the rice for its aroma and colour.

  6. 6

    Optional: smoke and shine

    For the smoky taste of a real mandi, put a small heatproof bowl with a lit piece of charcoal and a splash of oil on the rice, cover for 5 minutes, then take it out (only with good ventilation). Brush the chicken with melted butter and garnish with parsley.

Tip: Mandi keeps well: pack the rice with a piece of chicken on top for the lunch boxes. It keeps 3 days in the fridge.

This is my version of a recipe I love from Our Yemeni Kitchen (مطبخنا اليمني) on YouTube.

Calories, protein and cost are rough estimates for one portion, to help you plan, not exact figures.

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