Yemeni Mandi Chicken

Chicken is the only non-vegetarian food which is an all time favourite in our family. Every time I cook it. I try to try out a different recipe in order to save my family the boredom of eating the same dish over and over again.

This time I wanted to try a very popular Yemeni dish called Mandi Chicken. This is a traditional slow cooked Yemeni recipe made from chicken or lamb.The traditional method calls for cooking inside a clay oven which is obviously not possible at home, so I first bake it in the oven and then cook it in a pot over a bed of fragrant rice. I make sure to close the lid tightly so that the steam doesn't escape.

The Mandi Chicken has a distinctive smoky flavour because of the the hot coal that I placed inside the pot while the dish was in it's final steaming phase.  I used a piece of onion but you can use any tiny bowl for holding the piece of hot coal.

I will always remember when I first made the Mandi because I forgot that the coal was hot and picked it up with my bare hand ..ouch!!! So always remember to hold the coal with a pair of tongs.

Now if you like to know what goes into making this dish, check out the ingredient list first and then learn how to make Mandi Chicken at home without the need of a Clay Oven.

Prep Time: 30 min☻    Cooking Time: 1:30 minutes☻    Serves: 8-10☻    Cuisine: Yemen

Ingredients	Quantity
whole chicken cut into 4 pieces	1
banaspati rice	580g
onion sliced into thin pieces	1 large
tomatoes chopped	2 medium
cinnamon	4 sticks
cumin	2 tsp
coriander	1 tsp
cloves	1 1/4 tsp
black peppercorns	2 tsp
green cardamom	tbsp.
nutmeg	1 whole for grating
green chillies	3-4
ginger powder	1 tsp
lemon	1 whole cut into 4 wedges
olive oil	5 tbsp
salt	to taste

Dry roast the spices i.e. cinnamon, black peppercorns, coriander, green cardamom, nutmeg, cumin and cloves.

Grind the roasted spices into a fine powder. You can do this either with a pestle or mortar or with the help of a coffee grinder.

Marinate the chicken with the masala and lemon juice. Leave in the refrigerator overnight or  for 3-4 hours.

After the marination time is over place the chicken in a pre- heated oven at 200 degrees C.
Bake until the chicken is tender and golden brown in colour.

Fry onions with cloves, cinnamon stick, and black pepper. Fry till  light golden brown in colour.

Now add the tomatoes and green chillies

Add the lemon wedges and cook for one minute also add the mandi spice,ginger powder and salt.

Now wash the pre soaked rice in abundant water till the water runs clear. Add it to the fried onion and

tomato mixture. Also add the lemon wedges.

Add about 5 cups of water and leave to cook till the water evaporates and the rice becomes tender.

Meanwhile warm a coal on the stove top.

Now take the cooked rice and arrange the chicken pieces all around it.

Place the hot coal either in a reminkin or a piece of onion. Pour a drop or two of vegetable oil on top of it and cover the pot immediately with a tight lid.

Let steam cook for about 15 minutes, this is an easy way to imbibe the smoky flavour into the Mandi Chicken.