Mujadara
Lentils and rice under a heap of onions fried almost to the point of burning. The onions are the seasoning, so give them the time.
- Prep
- 15m
- Cook
- 55m
- Waiting
- 10m
- Total
- 1h 20m
- Serves
- 4
- Effort
- Moderate
Method
Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.
| 200 g | Simmer the lentils until just tender but not split 20m They finish cooking with the rice, so pull them while they still have a little bite. | Add the rice and the onion oil, cover and cook 18 minutes on the lowest heat 25m No stirring once the lid is on. Lifting it lets out the steam the rice is cooking in. | Pile most of the onions on top and rest 10 minutes, lid on 10m The steam softens the onions into the grain. Keep a handful back to scatter crisp at the end. | |
| 1 litre | ||||
| 1 | ||||
| 200 g | ||||
| 2 tsp | ||||
| 1 tsp | ||||
| 1/2 tsp | ||||
| 1 1/2 tsp | ||||
| 4 | Fry the onions slowly until deep mahogany, then drain, keeping the oil 30m They go limp, then gold, then brown. The last five minutes are where the flavour is, and where they burn. | |||
| 6 tbsp | ||||
| 1/2 tsp | ||||
-
Simmer the lentils until just tender but not split
20m- brown or green lentils 200 g
- water 1 litre
- bay leaf 1
They finish cooking with the rice, so pull them while they still have a little bite.
-
Add the rice and the onion oil, cover and cook 18 minutes on the lowest heat
25m- from 1 Simmer the lentils until just tender but not split
- basmati rice 200 g
- ground cumin 2 tsp
- ground coriander 1 tsp
- ground allspice 1/2 tsp
- fine salt 1 1/2 tsp
No stirring once the lid is on. Lifting it lets out the steam the rice is cooking in.
-
Fry the onions slowly until deep mahogany, then drain, keeping the oil
30m- onions 4
- olive oil 6 tbsp
- fine salt 1/2 tsp
They go limp, then gold, then brown. The last five minutes are where the flavour is, and where they burn.
-
Pile most of the onions on top and rest 10 minutes, lid on
10m- from 2 Add the rice and the onion oil, cover and cook 18 minutes on the lowest heat
- from 3 Fry the onions slowly until deep mahogany, then drain, keeping the oil
The steam softens the onions into the grain. Keep a handful back to scatter crisp at the end.
Why the onions take half an hour
Sliced onion is around 90 percent water, and none of the browning that matters can start until most of it has gone. For the first fifteen minutes you are simply boiling the slices in oil. Only once they are dry does the sugar released by breaking down fructans begin to caramelise and the amino acids begin to react with it, and that is where the bitter-sweet flavour that carries the whole dish comes from.
Frying them in more oil than seems sensible is deliberate — that oil is now onion stock, and it goes into the rice.
Notes
- Slice the onions to a consistent thickness or the thin ones carbonise first.
- Lentils before rice, always. Together, one is chalky and the other is mush.
- Good cold the next day with yoghurt, which makes it no longer vegan.