Name: Lentils with Rice and Caramelised Onions
Yield: Serves 4–6
Cuisine: Middle East
Ingredients: sea salt and freshly ground black pepper; 4–6 heaped tablespoons thick, creamy yogurt; a small bunch of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped; 250 g/9 oz medium or long grain rice, rinsed and drained; 2 teaspoons cumin seeds; 2–3 garlic cloves, finely chopped; 2 teaspoons coriander seeds; 2 tablespoons ghee; 3 big onions, halved and finely sliced; 250 g/9 oz brown lentils, rinsed and drained; 1 teaspoon sugar; 1 teaspoon ground fenugreek

Preparation info

Serves
4–6

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Spirit & Spice

By Ghillie Basan

Published 2019

About

The medieval Arabic name for this dish of rice and lentils is ‘mujaddara’ (also known as ‘mudardara’) meaning ‘smallpox’, as the lentils dotted through the rice look like the pockmarks on a face. Definition aside, for many people in the Middle East, this is comfort food and there are many variations of it. It is delicious and goes with so many things, including whisky, as the caramelised onions lend toffee notes and the biting texture and nutty notes of the lentils and rice is screaming for