When it comes to delicious traditional foods, mandi is a popular dish that comes to mind. A quick stroll around the city will reveal a variety of different mandi restaurants in Abu Dhabi. One of the best ways to try this delicious dish is by experiencing it the way it was meant to be had.
Mandi is a delicious traditional dish, that is said to have originated from Hadhramaut, Yemen. It is a meat & rice dish, made with a variety of different spices, called Hawaij. The name Mandi, in Arabic, means “dew”, which refers to the moist & dewy texture of the meat once cooked.
Mandi is cooked in an underground pit, often called a tandoor. The technique used to prepare the dish is what sets it apart from other similar rice & meat dishes. First, the meat is left to marinate using spices, which are usually kept overnight.
When the dish is ready to be cooked, it is first boiled, and partially cooked, and then the spiced broth is used to cook the rice, while the meat is suspended above the pot of rice. The fat and juices from the meat blend with the flavored rice as they cook together, to create a unique flavor profile that is unlike any other type of rice. It takes around 8 hours for a mandi dish to fully cook, as this is a slow-cooked dish.
Not only is this dish tasty & delicious, but it is also quite nutritious. Very little oil, if at all, is used in the cooking process, usually at the beginning to aid in the marination process. It is often served alongside fresh & crunchy salads, making for an all-around healthy dish compared to other common rice and meat dishes, like biriyani, for example.
Mandi is also very affordable, as it can be made with a variety of different meats, such as chicken, lamb, goat, veal, or even camel. The type of meat used makes for a significant difference in the tastes that can be had. Lamb meat is more favored and popular, while the chicken is just as popular and more affordable compared to ones made with other types of meat.
Whether you prefer chicken, lamb, or goat meat in your mandi, what will make the most difference will be how it’s prepared. As you know, the process can be rather time-consuming. While there are many restaurants in Abu Dhabi, not all of them follow the traditional techniques and recipes to prepare this dish. As a result, the authentic taste of a well-cooked Mandi dish is lost.
This is why it’s important to choose your restaurant carefully. We would recommend dining at a traditional Arabic restaurant, like Al Mandi & Al Madhbi House. They are a chain of mandi restaurants in Abu Dhabi, that has been in business for over a decade, serving the residents in Abu Dhabi with delicious traditional Arabic dishes.
If you want to dine like a local, and experience the true flavors of what Mandi restaurant in Abu Dhabi has to offer, this is one of the best ways to try them out.
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