Mujadarra is one of those rare Palestinian main dishes that does not include any meat. It is simply fragrantly spiced rice and lentils and a lot of onions. Very cheap to make, filling, quite healthy (depending on your choice with the fried onions) and great cold for lunch the next day.
Serves 4
Ingredients
dried brown or green
lentils – 250g
White Basmati Rice – 300g
4 white onions
Garlic –2 cloves
4 tsp cumin seeds –
toast and grind
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp all spice
2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp coriander seeds
bashed up
Vegetable stock
– 400 ml
Olive oil – 3 or 4 tbsp for the rice and lentils
Olive oil – 150 ml for the onion
Salt and pepper
Natural yoghurt
Soak the rice in
water for at least half an hour.
Slice all the onions very
thinly. Then heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, add the onions and fry
them, keeping an eye on them and moving them around from time to time. They should be very dark
brown and sticky by the end. Drain off any excess oil, toss the onions around and set aside. If you want a healthier option dry fry the onions. They aren't as good as the former but it's not a vast difference.
Meanwhile put your
lentils on to boil. Cover with water and let them simmer for ten minutes. No
longer, as they will cook again in the rice and will not be nice if they
turn mushy. Drain them off in a sieve and set aside. Reserve the lentil water.
Now, heat the olive oil
in a saucepan (preferably one with a fitted lid) and then add the garlic,
coriander and cumin. Then add the rice and all the
other spices listed above. Make sure the rice is all coated in the spice
mixture. Add the salt and the stock. It should cover the
rice by approximately 1 ½ cm. If it doesn't, top it up with the reserved lentil water. Bring to the boil and
then turn it right down to a simmer. Put the lid on and simmer gently for
fifteen minutes.
When it is ready, mix in
1/3 of the fried onions. Serve with arabic salad, a dollop of yoghurt and a generous amount of the fried onions on top.