Hi there! We’ve been gone a while, but now we’re back on schedule. We took a wonderful (and spontaneous) vacation to India to visit our family. We can’t wait to get back to posting scrumptious recipes for you guys.
Today we are preparing a Lebanese rice recipe which is also called mujadara. It’s a beautiful dish layered with lentils and rice topped with caramelized onions. We can eat it with yogurt, tahini, or shatta (spicy dip), mujadara is a delicious vegetarian dish that can make a statement at your next get-together.
In our recipe, we are using white basmati rice but if you are using brown rice then the cooking time will be a little longer. Here we are using standard uncooked brown lentils not the canned ones.
Mujadara is a classic Arabic recipe that includes lentils, rice, herbs, and caramelized onions. It is a delicious vegetarian main course dish.
Recipe
Ingredients
1 cup regular brown lentil, rinse and drain
1 cup basmati rice, rinsed and drained
4 cup water
6-7 black pepper
2-3 bay leaves
1 onion thinly chopped
2-3 garlic cloves
½ cup cilantro
½ cup green onions
Olive oil
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp sea salt
1 tbsp cumin ground
Method
1 In a huge soup pot, combine garlic, bay leaves, cumin, 1 tsp salt, and black pepper. Add the water and bring the mixture to boil over medium flame.
2 Once the boil comes, add rice and cover it with a lid. Adjust the flame in a way that rice doesn’t get very soft. After 10 minutes add lentils to this pot. Now reduce the flame and let the lentils and rice be tender and they absorb water. Let it cook for another 20 minutes or you see lentils and rice get soft.
3 Meanwhile, warm the olive oil in a pan over medium-high flame. When you feel that the oil is warm enough to make the onions sizzle, add the remaining onions to the pan.
4 Stir for only 3 minutes at first, then more often once the onions at the edges start getting brown. Cook the onions that are deeply caramelized and start getting crispy.
5 Line a large tray with paper towels and transfer the caramelized onion with the help of spatula. Sprinkle the ¼ tsp sea salt on the onions. They will crisp when they are cool.
6 Once the rice and lentils are cooked, turn off the burner. drain out the water if there is any. Let the cooked rice and lentils rest for 10 minutes. Now add cilantro and green onions to the mixture and mix them with gentle hands. Leave little coriander leaves and green onions for garnishing.
7 Transfer the rice and lentil mixture to a large serving bowl. Sprinkle leftover greens. Top it with caramelized onions. Serve hot or at room temperature with yogurt or tahini.
This recipe tastes great with some shatta dip (recipe coming soon!)