Mujadara

Ingredients

  • 4 very large or 10 small onions
  • 2 cups dry brown lentils
  • 2 cups brown rice or bulgur
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tbsp cumin
  • 4 tomatoes
  • half a cucumber
  • half a red onion
  • a bunch of parsley
  • some fresh mint
  • 1 lemon
  • 2 cups yogurt
  • 1 cup olive oil total

Prep

Put aside half an onion for later, and slice the rest lengthwise. Heat a bit of oil in a pan on low heat and add the onions. You'll be cooking these for at least an hour and probably longer, stirring occasionally, never letting them brown too much. The end result is up to you, but they should be at the very least golden brown and soft, and potentially a bit darker and crispier if that's how you prefer them.You can control the crispiness by adding a touch of salt halfway through the cooking process when the onions have sweated out their own moisture.

Once the onions are under way, thoroughly rinse your rice and lentils (separately of course).

Procedure

Dice half of an onion (or a small one) and fry it with a bit of oil in a big pot. Add the garlic and cumin and fry it for a minute or two, then add the lentils and enough water to cover. Add the bay leaves and cook them for 10 to 20 minutes. The times depend a lot on whether you're using brown or green lentils, dry or parboiled, so experiment and see what happens. If using dry lentils, give them a head start before adding the rice, and don't add any salt until you're adding the rice, as it keeps lentils from cooking through.

Also, you may want to drain the lentils before adding the rice so that you can toast the rice for a bit before adding the cooking water back in, although this of course depends on what kind of rice you're using. The added benefit is that adding the water back in a bit at a time gives you a lot of control over the consistency—-you want it to be fluffy, not soggy.

As a side, finely chop mint and parsley, tomatoes, cucumber and red onion, and dress with olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper.

Once the Mujadara is cooked, garnish with the fried onions, yogurt and the side salad.