
AI-generated photo.
Yemeni · Iconic · Yemen
Chicken mandi
Also called مندي
Chicken mandi, a dish from Yemen (مندي).
Pai editors’ mark 4 / 5
Plan, list, and collections
Chicken mandi is cooked in Yemen as its own dish. Bake the chicken over the rice so the juices drip into the grains. Amounts are scaled for four from foods this library can count, so the nutrition panel comes from those ingredients.
Health
How this plate sits
Counted from the ingredient table. The score, richness, and badges describe one serving as written. The ring and the nutrient table follow the serving count above. This is general information, not medical advice.
78
Health score
Light & nourishing
Moderate
Richness
Gentle
Light to very rich, from fat, saturated fat, sugar, and the cream or butter in the plate.
- Protein 25%
- Carbs 52%
- Fat 22%
Watch · Diabetes-friendly
It misses a gentler mark: sugar, fiber, the starch mix, or the richness of the plate.
Watch · Heart-friendly
Saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, or fiber keeps this off the heart-friendly list.
Watch · Weight loss
Calories, protein, or richness make this a fuller plate than a light day wants.
Suits · High protein
About 35.9 g of protein in the serving.
Watch · Low sodium
About 579 mg of sodium, above the 450 mg mark.
Suits · Gluten-free
No wheat, barley, or rye in the required list. Still read labels on sauces and oats.
Suits · Dairy-free
No milk ingredients in the required list.
Watch · Vegetarian
Meat, poultry, fish, or shellfish is in the required list.
Suits · Pregnancy
No alcohol, liver, or caffeine in the required list. Cook meat, eggs, and seafood through.
Watch · Gentle when sick
Fat or sugar is high for a day when appetite is low.
Suits · Kid-friendly
Heat stays mild, and the required list has no alcohol or liver.
Calories by ingredient
Each number is that ingredient’s table calories, split across the servings.
- Dry basmati rice274 kcal
- Chicken thigh157 kcal
- Olive oil62 kcal
- Low-sodium chicken broth32 kcal
- Raisins30 kcal
- Yellow onion18 kcal
Glycemic load
Estimated glycemic load for this count: 42.7. The bands come from the ingredient table.
Portion
One serving, as written, is about 576 kcal.
Allergens. None flagged in the required list.
Make it healthier
Use half the salt
Salt adds no calories in this table, so the calorie figure stays put while sodium falls.
About 576 kcal after the change.
Use half the kosher salt and brighten the plate with lemon or lime.
The same dish with less sodium. This is the kitchen note. A new calorie figure is shown only when the grams can be replayed on the ingredient table.
Low confidence: no new calorie figure. The grams cannot be replayed on the table.
Replace the meat or fish with the same weight of drained chickpeas.
The seasoning and the method stay. The center of the plate changes. This is the kitchen note. A new calorie figure is shown only when the grams can be replayed on the ingredient table.
Low confidence: no new calorie figure. The grams cannot be replayed on the table.
| Nutrient | Amount | % daily value |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 576 kcal | 29% |
| Protein | 35.9 g | 72% |
| Carbohydrate | 75 g | 27% |
| Fiber | 2.3 g | 8% |
| Total sugars | 8.8 g | 18% |
| Fat | 14.3 g | 18% |
| Saturated fat | 3 g | 15% |
| Cholesterol | 122 mg | 41% |
| Sodium | 579 mg | 25% |
| Potassium | 747 mg | 16% |
| Calcium | 60 mg | 5% |
| Iron | 5.4 mg | 30% |
| Magnesium | 62 mg | 15% |
| Zinc | 3.2 mg | 29% |
| Vitamin A | 9 mcg | 1% |
| Vitamin C | 3.5 mg | 4% |
| Vitamin D | 0 mcg | 0% |
| Vitamin E · estimate | 1.4 mg | 9% |
| Vitamin K | 8 mcg | 7% |
| Thiamin (B1) | 0.6 mg | 48% |
| Riboflavin (B2) | 0.4 mg | 29% |
| Niacin (B3) | 13.3 mg | 83% |
| Vitamin B6 | 0.8 mg | 48% |
| Folate · estimate | 189 mcg | 47% |
| Vitamin B12 | 1 mcg | 41% |
Low-confidence marks sit on glycemic load or on vitamins the USDA row left blank. Those vitamins are filled from a food-group reference and labeled as estimates. Reported USDA values, including zeros, are kept. 50 g is the daily value for added sugar. This figure is total sugar, including fruit and milk.
- Protein is high enough to make the meal satisfying.
- A middle path: useful food, with one or two numbers worth watching.
Pai shares general nutrition information for everyday cooking. It is not medical advice, a diagnosis, or a treatment plan. Health labels are estimates from reference ingredient data and do not account for your lab results, medications, or how a food is absorbed. If you are pregnant, managing diabetes, cholesterol, an allergy, or any illness, use this as a menu of ideas and follow the clinician who knows you. In an emergency, call local emergency services.
Equipment
- Oven
- Scale
- Mixing bowls
- Parchment
- The pan in the method
- Cooling rack
- Skewer or toothpick
- Oven thermometer
Ingredients
Each line is stored in grams. The second amount is the other system, so a cup measure and the gram weight stay together.
Dry basmati rice1.5 cups300 g- Chicken thigh4 thighs520 g
Yellow onion1 onion180 g
Ground cumin1 tsp2 g
Ground cardamom1 tsp2 g
Raisins0.25 cup40 g
Olive oil2 tbsp30.77 ml
Kosher salt1 tsp4 g
Low-sodium chicken broth3.5 cups800 ml
The first amount follows the unit toggle. The second is the other system. Both follow the serving count.
If you need to swap
- Use half the kosher salt and brighten the plate with lemon or lime.. The same dish with less sodium.
- Replace the meat or fish with the same weight of drained chickpeas.. The seasoning and the method stay. The center of the plate changes.
Method

AI-generated photo.
1Set the oven to 325°F / 163°C and leave it for 15 minutes so the rack is actually hot. Weigh dry basmati rice, chicken thigh, yellow onion, ground cumin, ground cardamom, raisins, olive oil, kosher salt, low-sodium chicken broth. Chicken mandi is cooked in Yemen as its own dish. Bake the chicken over the rice so the juices drip into the grains. Amounts are scaled for four from foods this library can count, so the nutrition panel comes from those ingredients.
Heat oven 15 min

AI-generated photo.
2Line the pan with parchment. If this is Chicken mandi, a bare pan is the usual reason the first slice sticks. Butter only the parchment, not a pool of fat.

AI-generated photo.
3Stir the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another. Combine them until the batter or dough for Chicken mandi is even, with no dry streaks and no long mixing after that.

AI-generated photo.
4Scrape the mixture into the pan and level the top. Chicken mandi bakes evenly only when the center is not a dome of unmixed batter.
- 🇾🇪 YemenMiddle Eastyemen-mandi-step-4
Chicken mandi, step 5
Step 5 · Bake about 14 min
5Bake at 325°F / 163°C until this is true: A skewer in the center of Chicken mandi comes out with a few moist crumbs, and the top springs back. Start checking at 14 minutes. Opening the door early drops the heat.
Bake about 14 min
- 🇾🇪 YemenMiddle Eastyemen-mandi-step-5
Chicken mandi, step 6
Step 6 · Cool 10 min
6Cool Chicken mandi in the pan for 10 minutes, then move it to a rack. Cutting while it is steaming collapses the crumb. Film Chicken mandi in this shot order and no other: wide on the cold pan before the heat; a thermometer in the thickest center; the oven dial and a hot rack; tongs turning one piece. Slate words for the editor: mortar, bronzed, shimmer, hearthside, undercrust, iris, umber, hearth, whisk, opaque.
Cool 10 min
How you know it is done
A skewer in the center of Chicken mandi comes out with a few moist crumbs, and the top springs back.
If it goes wrong
- Chicken mandi looks done on top and is still raw in the center. Trust the cue in the method, not the color alone. Give it a few more minutes and check the center.
- Chicken mandi spread, sank, or turned out dry. Measure by weight next time, heat the oven fully, and stop when the doneness cue appears rather than when the timer ends.
Storage
Cool Chicken mandi completely. Keep it covered at room temperature for 2 days, or wrap and freeze for a month. Refrigerate custard, cream, and fresh-fruit fillings the same day and eat them within 3 days.
How this dish helps your daily life
- Chicken mandi is cooked by bake in Yemen. The steps follow that technique, including the timing above.
- The meat, poultry, or fish is the protein. The panel is this plate, not a generic serving.
Notes
Pregnancy. Cook meat, poultry, and eggs through. Use pasteurized dairy if the recipe includes it. There is no alcohol in the required list.
Allergens in the required list: none flagged.
Your stars and note
Pai shares general nutrition information for everyday cooking. It is not medical advice, a diagnosis, or a treatment plan. Health labels are estimates from reference ingredient data and do not account for your lab results, medications, or how a food is absorbed. If you are pregnant, managing diabetes, cholesterol, an allergy, or any illness, use this as a menu of ideas and follow the clinician who knows you. In an emergency, call local emergency services.