Mujaddara

ujaddara is a staple amongst many mid-East cultures. Lentils form the basis of many meals and recipes, and although this was once considered something for the lower classes, or for those who were sick, it's becoming more popular because lentils are good for you (high in protein, low in fat, high in fibre), and lentils are legumes, and can help restore nutrients to the soils in which they grow.

The ingredients marked with an asterix are optional. You can make the spice mixture as complicated as you like, but really only cumin is considered "necessary".

Here's the list of ingredients:

• A quarter cup of rice (basmati, long grain brown, or something else)
• A quarter cup of green lentils (for brown mujaddara), or red lentils for yellow mujaddara, or a mixture of both.
• A sliced white onion
• Freshly ground cumin, maybe a tablespoon
• Big pinch of turmeric
• A few cloves of garlic, minced ^*
• Coriander seeds, ground ^*
• Fenugreek seeds, ground ^*
• Mustard seeds, ground ^*
• Shelled black cardamom pods, ground ^*
• Fennel seeds, ground ^*
• 1 or 2 teasspons of curry powder, to taste ^*
• red chili powder, to taste ^*
• Salt, pepper, and some olive oil for sweating the onions

I grind all of my spices right before I use them, in a mortar and pestle. You can use a small coffee grinder for this, if you like. The bowl of extra veggies in the first photo is just some side stuff I'm going to cook along with the lentil mixture. It's optional. What I normally do is just toss it on top of the lentil mixture in the pot when the lentils are almost cooked. The steam cooks those veggies very fast.

Add a few tablespoons of oil to the bottom of a thick bottomed pot. Let it heat up, and add your sliced onions. The idea here is to *sweat* the onions, not brown them. If they are sizzling away, it's too hot. Turn the heat down. Cook until they are soft and beginning to go translucent.

When the onions are done, add the lentils and rice to the pot. Stir for a minute or two to coat the rice and lentils with a bit of the oil. Same technique as if you were making a rice pilaf. Once they are coated, add a cup of water, and your spices. Stir well, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to a bare simmer, cover, and let it cook for 25 minutes.

You may notice that my rice/lentil mixture looks odd. I am using a mixture of green and yellow lentils, and also Black Japonica rice, which is quite untraditional. Darn tasty, though.

After 25 minutes, have a peek. The water should have been absorbed by the rice and lentils, and you can basically stop here. Stir it well, and serve with some pita bread, or maybe some steamed veggies.

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