Eggs & dairy · Yoghurt & cultured

Jameed (liquid, reconstituted)

Jordanian dried, salted fermented yogurt (usually from sheep or goat milk), reconstituted into sauce for mansaf.

Also called: jameed, jamid, liquid jameed, dried yogurt

Around the world: jameed, جميد (ar)

A kind of yogurt

1 recipe with it

Photo: Syrinje, via Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA-3.0)

What it is

Jameed is strained, salted yogurt shaped into hard white balls and dried in the sun. For cooking it is soaked and blended with water into a sour, salty liquid; this record is that reconstituted liquid, which is also sold ready-made. It is far stronger than fresh yogurt. Lebanese and Syrian kishk is a different product that also contains bulgur.

How it’s used

Sauce for mansaf (lamb cooked in jameed, served over rice)
Enriching lamb and rice dishes
Grated dry into soups

Characteristics

Taste: Sharp, very salty and tangy, with a pungent cheesy note.
Texture: Rock-hard when dry; smooth and creamy when reconstituted.
When cooked: Simmered gently and stirred constantly to prevent splitting; some cooks add a little starch or egg to stabilise.
Sold as: dried, liquid, fermented
Cooking uses: Commonly cooked, Mainly a seasoning
Common in: Jordanian, Palestinian, Levantine, Syrian

Storage

Refrigerated. Refrigerate liquid jameed and use within a few days; dried balls keep in a sealed container in a cool, dry place.

Diet, allergens and safety

Contains Milk.

Vegetarian
Vegan
Dairy-free
Egg-free
Gluten-free
Nut-free
Soy-free
Caffeine-free

Contains milk (allergen).

Nutrition per 100 g

Energy: 97 kcal
Protein: 9 g
Carbohydrate: 3.98 g
Fat: 5 g
Fibre: 0 g
Sugars: 4 g

USDA FoodData Central: Yogurt, Greek, plain, whole milk (a close stand-in).

Substitutes

Optional — what works if you don’t have it, and how it changes the dish.

Yogurt — Full-fat yogurt stabilised with a little cornstarch, salted and sharpened with lemon; milder.
Kashk — Liquid kashk thinned with water is closer in pungency.