Mejadra

Not much time passes before I decide I need to make an Ottolenghi recipe. I reach for one of his books and always find something wonderfully unique and delicious to try. In this case, the book is Jerusalem, whose authors are Ottolenghi as well as Sami Tamimi, published in 2012.

The recipe is for Mejadra, an ancient dish, popular throughout the Arab world. It’s a lentil and rice dish with onions and aromatic spices.

From the book: “The two of us can spend many pointless hours discussing what makes the best comfort food and why, but never seem to reach any kind of serious conclusion. Mejadra, however, is where the dispute ends.

Serve warm or at room temperature, alongside yogurt with cucumber or just plain Greek yogurt.

Mejadra
printable recipe below

1 1/4 cups green or brown lentils
4 medium onions
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
About 1 cup sunflower oil
2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 1/2 tablespoons coriander seeds
1 cup basmati rice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoons allspice
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 cups water
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Place the lentils in a small saucepan, cover with plenty of water, bring to a boil, and cook for 12 to 15 minutes, until the lentils have softened but still have a little bite. Drain and set aside.

Peel the onions and slice thinly. Place on a large flat plate, prickle with the flour and 1 teaspoon salt, and mix well with your hands.

Heat the sunflower oil in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan placed over high heat. Make sure the oil is hot by throwing in a mall piece of onion; it should sizzle vigorously. Reduce the heat to medium-high and carefully add one third of the sliced onion. Fry for 5 to 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). Use the spoon to transfer the 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; add a little extra oil if needed.

Wipe the saucepan in which you fried the onion clean and put in the cumin and coriander seeds. Place over medium heat and toast the seeds for a minute or two.

Add the rice, olive oil, turmeric, allspice, cinnamon, sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and plenty of black pepper. Stir to coat the rice with the oil and then add the cooked lentils and the water. Bring to a boil, cover with a lid, and simmer over very low heat for 15 minutes. 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.

Finally, 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.

It was delicious with yogurt and cucumber.