Lebanese recipe
How to make Lentils and rice with crispy onions
Mujaddara (مجدرة)
All of Lebanon
A humble, filling dish of brown lentils cooked with rice or bulgur and topped with a heap of deeply browned onions, often eaten with yogurt or a salad.
Ingredients
- 250 g brown or green lentils
- 150 g long-grain rice, rinsed
- 3 large onions, thinly sliced
- 6 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- Salt and black pepper
- Plain yogurt and a green salad to serve
Method
- Cook the lentils in plenty of water for about 15 minutes, until almost tender. Drain, keeping the water.
- Meanwhile fry the onions slowly in the olive oil for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring often, until deep brown. Lift out half of them for the top.
- Add the rice, lentils, cumin, salt and pepper to the pan with the remaining onions, then pour in 500 ml of the lentil water.
- Bring to the boil, cover and cook on a very low heat for about 20 minutes, until the rice is soft. Rest for 5 minutes.
- Serve topped with the crispy onions, with yogurt and salad on the side.
Made it at home? Tick it off and it goes into your kitchen passport.
The name means 'pockmarked' in Arabic: the lentils among the rice look like little marks.
Take the trip to Lebanon
