Yemenite Rice Recipes

CHICKEN MANDI RECIPE (YEMENI SMOKY CHICKEN AND RICE DISH)

Steps:

• Mix all the marinade ingredients together and rub all over the chicken, getting under the skin too. Be careful not to break the skin. Leave to marinate for a minimum 30 minutes, overnight if you want to and are organised!
• Turn the oven on to 220˚C (430˚F).
• Heat the 2 Tbsp of olive oil in an oven proof dish on medium heat, and fry the dry spices for 30 seconds. This will be the cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, bay leaves and black peppercorns.
• Add the chopped onions and whole green chillies and fry for 2 minutes.
• Tip in the rice and stir well, coating the rice grain with the flavoured oil. Do this for about 20 seconds.
• Add the water and stock and bring to a boil. Once the liquid is boiling, turn the heat off and transfer to the oven.
• Place the rice on the lowest shelf of your oven, making sure there is space above for the chicken. See the video.
• Place the chicken either on the next shelf above, or on a wired rack that will sit on your pot. As the chicken cooks, the fat and juices will drip onto the rice.
• Cook on this high heat for 10 minutes, then, without opening the door, lower the heat down to 190˚C (375˚F). Now leave it to cook for another 1 1/2 hours or until the chicken is done. You will know the chicken is done, when the skin around the end of the legs have shrunk and pulled back.
• While the chicken and rice are cooking, let's make our liquid saffron. Pound the saffron to a fine powder with a pinch of salt.
• Add the hot water, stir, and leave aside until needed.
• When the chicken is done, turn the oven off, open the oven door, and leave it slightly ajar. This is to stop the chicken from cooking further, and also starts our resting time for the chicken. Remember, all roast meats need a resting time after cooking, and before slicing, so that the juices can seep back to all the fibres, giving you moist meat.
• Place a small piece of charcoal on the stove top, resting on a trivet, if you have one. Leave it to burn on a low heat for 5-10 minutes until it's white hot (see video). You don't need to turn it, which will only save you a minute or two.
• Get the rice out, drizzle the liquid saffron and the lemon juice, and scatter the lemon zest all over. Fluff the rice with a fork, to mix it all up. Cover, and place the rice back in the oven, leaving the door slightly ajar. This will allow the crispy rice to absorb some moisture and soften slightly.
• If you have a sensitive smoke alarm nearby, close your kitchen door!
• Take the lid off your rice and set aside. Open the oven door fully.
• Pour your oil into the ramekin and immediately place the burning hot coal into the oil filled ramekin.
• Very, very quickly, place the smoking ramekin in the oven, on the bottom shelf if there's space, if not, any shelf, as the oven will smoke up. Shut the door completely, and leave to smoke for 10 minutes.
• Carve the chicken and serve with the rice, along with some yoghurt on the side.
• Click here for Maqluba

LENTILS AND RICE WITH FRIED ONIONS (MUJADARRAH)

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onions, and cook about 10 minutes, until browned. Remove from heat, and set aside.
• Place lentils in a medium saucepan with enough lightly salted water to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer about 15 minutes.
• Stir rice and enough water to cover into the saucepan with the lentils. Season with salt and pepper. Cover saucepan, and continue to simmer 15 to 20 minutes, until rice and lentils are tender.
• Mix half the onions into the lentil mixture. Top with yogurt or sour cream and remaining onions to serve.

YEMENITE RICE

Steps:

• Heat oil and onion on medium heat until onion is transparent.
• Stir in garlic and spices for 1 minute to coat the onion.
• Add the uncooked rice and stir for 3 minutes until coated with spices.
• Add the stock and bring to a boil.
• Lower heat and simmer covered for 18-20 minutes.
• Remove, let stand covered for 10 minutes.
• Garnish with the cilantro.

ROASTED SEPHARDIC (YEMENITE) CHICKEN WITH POTATOES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400deg F.
• In a large pan, place the chicken, potatoes, onions, red pepper, and the optional ingredients (if you're using them), and drizzle all the spices and olive oil on top, and mix well to coat everything (I recommend doing this with latex gloves as the turmeric can be a real pain to take off of skin!).
• Relayer so that the chicken skin side is up and that all the chicken is on one layer. Add the tomato slices (or whole cherry tomatoes).
• Cover with aluminum foil and bake for about an hour. Baste with juices mid-way if you like, and ensure the chicken is cooked all the way through (may need more time if pieces are large).
• It's ready when a fork easily breaks the potatoes, and the chicken is soft.
• Remove foil, and broil for 3-5minutes until chicken skin and potatoes are crispy on top (careful not to burn!).
• Enjoy!

CHICKEN MANDI

Steps:

• Mix them all up and keep in airtight container.
• Season the chicken with salt. Mix butter with 2 teaspoons from the spice mix and brush the chicken. Cover and refrigerate for 10 minutes. You can skip the 10 minutes if you don't have much time.
• Preheat oven to 190C/375F. Cover the chicken with aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 25 minutes. If the chicken is bigger you will need to bake it a little longer. Keep aside.
• In a pan add the olive oil, when hot add the onion and fry until translucent.
• Add the tomatoes and green chili, stir on medium heat for 4 minutes.
• Add the Yemeni spice mix, stir for two minutes. Pour the water and season with salt.
• When the water comes to a boil, add the rice. When it starts to boil again, cover tightly. Heat should turned down to the lowest.
• After 15 minutes, uncover the rice and gently stir, just to bring the bottom rice to the top. Cover tightly and cook for another 15-17 minutes.
• When serving, place the chicken on top of the rice and garnish with almonds and raisins.