Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Maru wa Lahmé
Meat and vegetables simmered in a mustard-scented broth, then rice cooked in that broth, the generous communal lunch of the Mauritanian table.
Mauritanian · medium · serves 4
prep 20 min · cook 70 min
~1166 cal · 53g protein · 144g carbs · 40g fat · 9g fiber · 10g sugars · 14g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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In Mauritania, where Arab-Berber and West African worlds meet at the edge of the Sahara, the great communal lunch is a platter of meat and rice shared from a single dish. Maru wa lahmé, rice and meat, is the everyday expression of that tradition, unhurried food built for hospitality.
What sets it apart from the region's other rice pots is mustard. A couple of spoonfuls go in with the onion, garlic and bay right after the meat is browned, and they give the broth a gentle, tangy sharpness that carries all the way into the grain. Cabbage, carrot, and eggplant soften in that broth, then come out to be kept warm while the rice cooks in the liquid they flavored.
Piled onto a wide platter with the meat and rice in the middle and the vegetables arranged around them, it is eaten together, by hand, in the Mauritanian way. Simple and deeply satisfying, it reflects a culture where a shared plate is an act of welcome.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, egg-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
1.5 lb lamb or goat, in pieces
2 cups long-grain rice
2 onions, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp prepared mustard
2 bay leaves
1/2 head green cabbage, cut in wedges
2 carrots, cut in thick rounds
2 cups , peeled and cubed
1 eggplant, cubed
3 tbsp oil
to taste salt and black pepper
Instructions
1
Brown the meat with the onion and garlic in the oil in a large pot.
2
Stir in the mustard and bay leaves, season with salt and pepper, and cook gently for 5 minutes so the mustard coats the meat.
3
Pour in enough water to cover, then add the cabbage, carrot, cassava, and eggplant. Simmer until the meat and vegetables are tender, about an hour.
4
Lift out the vegetables and keep them warm, then cook the rice in the seasoned broth until tender and fragrant.
✎ Chef’s note
Measure the broth so the rice absorbs it fully; that is where all the flavor lives.
5
Pile the rice and meat on a platter, arrange the vegetables around them, and serve to share.
Mauritanian home cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Nouakchott. The country sits between the Sahara and the Atlantic and both halves show up on the table. Camel meat and milk, dates and slow-roasted lamb come from the desert side; rice cooked with fish, in the Senegalese ceebu jen manner, comes from the river and the coast.
🗺️
Mauritania. The rice dish here is thieboudienne-style rather than Mauritanian in origin: ceebu jen came from Saint-Louis in Senegal and is shared along this coast. Zrig, soured camel or goat milk thinned with water and sometimes sweetened, is the drink taken to break a fast and the one most particular to the country.
🌍
Africa. The structure repeats across most of the continent: one starch and one sauce. A grain or root is cooked stiff, torn or rolled by hand, and used to carry a stew of leaves, groundnut, okra or fish, usually from a shared bowl and with the right hand. UNESCO listings have followed that logic, inscribing couscous in 2020 as a shared Maghreb tradition and Ivorian attieke in 2024.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Mauritania
MéchouiWhole lamb (or a shoulder) slow-roasted with cumin and salt until falling off the bone, desert feast food.
LakhSteamed millet couscous under cool sweetened curdled milk and fresh grated coconut, the Sahelian sweet Mauritania makes to mark the end of Ramadan.
Dates Stuffed with ButterPlump dates split and filled with cardamom-scented butter, a Saharan sweet of Mauritanian hospitality.
Browse all Mauritania recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan.
Storing it: Cool leftover rice quickly and refrigerate within an hour. Keep up to 2 days and reheat until piping hot all the way through.
Make it a Mauritania meal
ZrigDrink
Dates Stuffed with ButterDessert
Aïch (Millet Couscous in Chicken and Bean Broth)Dinner
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Frequently asked questions
What is Maru wa Lahmé?
Meat and vegetables simmered in a mustard-scented broth, then rice cooked in that broth, the generous communal lunch of the Mauritanian table.
Where does Maru wa Lahmé come from?
Maru wa Lahmé is a Mauritanian dish from Nouakchott, Mauritania.
Can Maru wa Lahmé be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Maru wa Lahmé recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Maru wa Lahmé safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Maru wa Lahmé take to make?
About 90 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 70 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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