Gosh, do I love this stuff. I’ve made a very similar recipe, spelled slightly differently, called Mujadara, and it’s an Armenian dish of the same style. Rice, lentils and onions. This one is slightly different, and it’s said to have Arab origins, but they’re one and the same. Slightly different seasonings, and a different preparation of the onions. Both delish. Both very worth making.
We were having lemony chicken on a shish kebob (not a very noteworthy recipe, so I probably won’t post about it), and I wanted a carb side dish and what came to mind was something along the lines of the mujadara I’d made a couple of years ago. I turned to one of my newest cookbooks, Jerusalem: A Cookbook by Ottolenghi and Tamimi. I’ve only made a couple of things so far from that book, but I assumed there would be a recipe for this dish in it. Sure enough.
It was slightly different, but not by much. Lentils cook almost to done and are set aside. Whole spices (cumin and coriander) are toasted, then rice added. The onions are tossed with a bit of flour and salt and are deep fried in a fairly shallow pan. They recommended sunflower oil, but I used grapeseed (which has a high flash point). That did take awhile – 5-7 minutes per batch and it took me 4 batches to get it done. That did take a bit of time.
The rice and lentils finish cooking with more added spices (turmeric, allspice, cinnamon) and a tiny bit of sugar. People in the Arab world often eat this as a vegetarian entrée, but I served it as a side dish. My earlier recipe garnishes with pine nuts and cilantro. Ottolenghi’s recipe just garnishes with the fried onions (which is the one ingredient that makes this dish).
If you serve this as a main dish, it probably will feed 8 people, but as a side dish it will serve more. I had quite a lot left over (which is fine with me) and I divided it up into 3 separate freezer bags with 3 additional little baggies with the onions separated that I inserted into the bigger bags. They’re already stashed in the freezer for some later evening when I don’t know what to make for dinner.
What’s GOOD: the flavors are just fantastic – the spices, the onions, the rice, the slight nuttiness of the lentils. All delish. Worth the effort.
What’s NOT: nothing other than it takes a bit of time to make, but like me, you’ll probably be glad you did it when you take a taste.
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Mejadra
By: From Jerusalem (Ottolenghi and Tamimi)
Serving Size: 8
1 cup sunflower oil
4 medium onions — thinly sliced
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups lentils — brown or green
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 1/2 tablespoons coriander seeds
1 cup basmati rice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt and black pepper
1 1/2 cups water — (you may need more to keep mixture from sticking)
Notes: If you’re eating this as a main course, it will serve 6. If a side dish, it should serve 8-10 easily.
1. Place the lentils in a small saucepan, cover with plenty of water, bring to a boil and cook for 12-15 minutes, until the lentils have softened, but still have a little bite. Drain and set aside.
2. Peel the onions and slice thinly. Place on a large flat plate, sprinkle with flour and salt and mix well with your hands. Heat the oil in a medium heavy bottomed saucepan placed over high heat. Make sure the oil is hot by throwing in a small piece of onion; it should sizzle vigorously. Reduce heat to medium high and carefully (it may spit) add a third of the sliced onion. Fry for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally with a slotted spoon, until the onion takes on a nice golden brown color and turns crispy. Adjust the temperature so the onion doesn’t fry too quickly and burn.
3. Use a spoon to transfer onion to a colander lined with paper towels and sprinkle with a little more salt. Do the same with the other two batches of onion, adding a bit more oil if necessary.
4. Pour out the oil and gently swipe the inside with a paper towel. Over medium heat add the cumin and coriander seeds and toast the seeds for a minute or two. Add the rice, olive oil,turmeric, allspice, cinnamon, sugar, 1/2 tsp salt (if needed, mine didn’t) and plenty of black pepper. Stir to coat the rice with the oil and then add the cooked lentils and water. Bring to a boil, cover with a lid and simmer over very low heat for 15 minutes.
5. Remove from the heat; lift off the lid and quickly cover the pan with a clean tea towel. Seal tightly with the lid and set aside for 10 minutes.
6. Add half the fried onion to the rice and lentils and stir gently with a fork. Pile the mixture in a shallow serving bowl and top with the rest of the onion with the lid and set aside for 10 minutes. Finally, add half the fried onion and stir gently with a fork. Pile the mixture in a shallow serving bowl and top with the rest of the onion.
Per Serving: 490 Calories; 32g Fat (57.2% calories from fat); 12g Protein; 42g Carbohydrate; 11g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 289mg Sodium.

Toffeeapple
said on August 24th, 2013:
I just finished cooking crisp onions and garlic about an hour ago, to go with a dish (called Khichari) of red split lentils and rice that I saw in a book about India that I was reading this morning – what a coincidence! I sprinkled some Old Bay seasoning on the onions, it tastes very good.