Mujadarrah
Middle Eastern rice and lentil dish topped with caramelised onion.
Ingredients
For the Caramelised Onion:
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 4 large sweet onions, chopped into thin rounds yellow / brown onions are also good
- 1 teaspoon salt
For the Mujadarrah:
- 1 ½ cups French green lentils or black lentils
- 1 cup basmati rice
- 3 ½ cups vegetable broth or water
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 1 tsp cumin
- ½ tsp allspice
- ½ tsp white pepper or black pepper
For Serving:
- ¼ cup Greek yogurt with toum, or garlic powder and salt optional, to garnish
- ¼ cup parsley coarsely chopped
Instructions
For the Caramelised Onion:
- In a large, deep pan (such as a Dutch oven) add your olive oil and heat to medium. Once it is sufficiently hot, add your sliced onion and salt.
- Monitor the onions, moving them around the pan every 2 minutes or so to prevent burning. Saute until they are fully soft and caramelised - this can take 30 to 40 minutes. Be patient, as you don't want to burn them.
- Once your onions are ready, remove from the pan into a separate bowl and leave to rest while you prepare the mujadarrah.
For the Mujadarrah:
- Wash and inspect your lentils and rice to ensure there are no rocks or other unpleasant things lurking in them.
- In the same pan you used for the onions, add your broth to deglaze any stuck on onion bits, and bring to a boil.
- Add your lentils and spices and cook for 10-15 minutes over medium high heat until they are al dente (that is, not rock hard!). Skim off any scum from the lentils.
- Once lentils are somewhat softened, add your rice and and continue to cook until all water is absorbed and your rice is fluffy (roughly 20-30 minutes). Remove the cinnamon stick once all water is gone. You will want to stir to ensure the rice doesn't burn to the bottom of your pan.
- Serve topped with the caramelised onion, yogurt, and parsley.
Notes
While short grain rice is traditional, I prefer the texture of long grain rice in this dish.