Mujadara

Ingredients

• 200g brown or green lentils
• 200g long-grain or basmati rice
• 4 large onions (about 700g)
• 150ml vegetable oil for frying
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1.5 tsp ground cumin
• 0.5 tsp ground allspice
• 2 tsp fine salt
• 0.5 tsp black pepper
• 750ml water
• 300g plain yoghurt, to serve
• 1 cucumber and 2 tomatoes, to serve

Before you cook

• Rinse the lentils and pick out any stones.
• Rinse the rice in several changes of cold water until the water runs clear, then leave it to soak for twenty minutes.
• Halve the onions and slice them thinly and evenly from root to tip.
• Dice the cucumber and tomatoes for the side salad.

Steps

1. Put the lentils in a pot with the water and bring them to a boil.
2. Simmer the lentils for fifteen minutes, until they are tender on the outside but still firm in the centre.
3. Heat the vegetable oil in a wide frying pan over medium-high heat.
4. Add the sliced onions and fry them, stirring often, for twenty to twenty-five minutes.
5. Watch the onions closely once they turn brown, because they go from mahogany to burnt in under a minute.
6. Lift about a third of the onions onto kitchen paper with a slotted spoon to crisp up for the garnish.
7. Scrape the remaining onions and two tablespoons of the frying oil into the lentil pot.
8. Drain the soaked rice and stir it into the lentils with the cumin, allspice, salt and pepper.
9. Check the liquid level; it should sit about one and a half centimetres above the rice, so add hot water if needed.
10. Bring the pot back to a boil, then cover it and drop the heat as low as it will go.
11. Cook the mujadara undisturbed for twenty minutes.
12. Take the pot off the heat, lay a clean tea towel under the lid, and leave it to steam for ten minutes.
13. Fluff the mujadara with a fork, pile it onto a platter, and heap the crisp onions on top.
14. Serve with yoghurt and the chopped cucumber and tomato.