Smoky Chicken Mandi over Spiced Rice

Name: Smoky Chicken Mandi over Spiced Rice
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 95 min
Total time: 125 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 1 whole chicken, 3 1/2 lb, split in half; 2 tbsp hawaij spice blend, or 1 tbsp cumin plus 1 tbsp turmeric and pepper; 1 tbsp kosher salt, divided; 3 tbsp ghee, divided; 1 yellow onion, chopped; 4 green cardamom pods, cracked; 2 dried black limes, pierced; 1 cinnamon stick; 2 cups basmati rice, rinsed and soaked 20 minutes; 1/4 tsp saffron threads, steeped in 2 tbsp hot water; 1 small piece lump charcoal, for smoking; 1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds

Yemeni-style chicken halves rubbed with hawaij spices, roasted and smoked with a coal in the pot, then served over long-grain rice cooked in the chicken's own broth.

4.8 138 cooks rated this

Prep: 30 min
Cook: 1 hr 35 min
Serves: 4
Level: Hard

Free recipe Jump to method

Mandi is traditionally cooked in a pit where chicken hangs over rice and the drippings season the grains below. At home you get close by simmering the chicken first to make broth for the rice, then roasting it hard for char. The final touch is a smoke bath: a small lump of hot charcoal set in a foil cup inside the covered pot with a drop of oil. Two minutes of smoke transforms the whole dish. Open the lid outdoors or near a vent.

Ingredients

Serves 4

Method

Rub the chicken halves with the hawaij, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 tablespoon melted ghee. Refrigerate at least 2 hours.
Done
In a large pot, soften the onion in 1 tablespoon ghee for 5 minutes. Add the cardamom, black limes, cinnamon, the chicken backbone if you have it and 4 cups water. Simmer 25 minutes.
Done
Heat the oven to 425 F. Roast the chicken halves skin side up on a rack for 45 minutes, until the skin is charred in spots and the thigh reads 175 F.
Done
Strain 3 cups of the broth into a wide pot with a tight lid, add the remaining salt and bring to a boil. Stir in the drained rice, cover and cook on low for 15 minutes.
Done
Drizzle the saffron water over the rice, lay the chicken on top and keep covered.
Done
Light the charcoal piece over a gas flame until glowing, about 6 minutes. Set it in a small foil cup nestled on the rice, drop the last tablespoon of ghee onto the coal and clamp the lid on for 5 minutes.
Done
Remove the coal, fluff the rice onto a large platter, set the chicken on top and scatter with almonds.
Done

Hand sprinkling salt over raw chicken tenders in a black pan — Salting chicken tenders before they hit the heat

Hands trimming a whole raw chicken beside a cleaver and fresh greens — Trimming a whole chicken beside the cleaver

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