„Monday, Monday (ba-da ba-da-da-da)“, who wouldn't be reminded of the song by the Mamas & the Papas?! At least the song came to my mind, when I recently tried a spice mix labelled Mandi Spices on a dish of mixed vegetables and the taste was delicious. So I wanted to know more about this Mandi spice mix, which I had bought in Jordan three weeks ago.
Mandi is a traditional dish that originated from Yemen [1]. Meat (originally lamb, camel or goat, now more chicken) together with rice and Mandi spices are cooked in a pit underground. This meal has been cooked for us in Wadi Rum. The meat juice saps into the rice, which is yellow (because of the spices), but being vegetarian I didn't pay too much attention to this treat. They cooked potatoes in another container for me. Mandi is served in other Arabian countries, specially in the Levante, but also in Pakistan and India. It's a treat for special occasions like wedding or Eid al-Fitr (Feast of Breaking the Fast).
For the spice mix I've looked at some pages on the internet [2]. White and black paper is used, which I think we may agree is pepper. Ingrediends may be cumin seeds, coriander seeds, cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon, fennel seeds, turmeric, star anise, bay laurel, ginger, nutmeg, chillies, peppercorns. The ingrediends are heated, not burned in a skillet for a about three minutes and grounded. Or you have the chance to buy it, but I hadn't seen it in shops in Germany; and I am spoiled by specialty food stores in Cologne.
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| This picture isn't from Jordan as I didn't have the chance to make a good picture due to time constraints. This picture is from Iran (Shiraz). |
The ready made spice mix won't last long, so I'm prepared to make my own.
Links and Notes:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandi_(food)
[2] https://www.shanazrafiq.com/2020/06/homestyle-chicken-mandi.html
http://aldanat.ae/en/mandi-spices
https://recipesaresimple.com/mandi-spice-mix-spice-powder-for-mandi/
https://cookpad.com/uk/recipes/15549950-homemade-mandi-spice-mix-masala https://nithisclickncook.com/mandi-spice-mix/
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