Mujaddara, a vegetarian recipe from Lebanon

Name: Mujaddara
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Lebanon
Ingredients: 200 g green or brown lentils; 150 g long-grain rice; 3 large onions, thinly sliced; 100 ml olive oil; 1½ tsp ground cumin; ½ tsp ground cinnamon; 1½ tsp salt; Black pepper; Yoghurt and tomato salad, to serve

Method

Cook the lentils in plenty of water for 15 minutes. They should stay slightly firm. Drain, keeping 400 ml of the cooking water.
Heat the oil in a wide frying pan. Fry the onions over medium heat for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring, until deep brown and crisp. Drain on kitchen paper and salt them.
Pour 3 tbsp of the onion oil into a saucepan. Add the rice, cumin and cinnamon and toast for 2 minutes.
Add the lentils, reserved water, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, cover, and cook on the lowest heat for 15 minutes.
Turn off the heat and rest for 10 minutes without opening. Fluff with a fork and fold in a third of the onions.
Serve warm or at room temperature, topped with the remaining fried onions, with yoghurt and a fresh salad.

It all rests on the onions: fry them slowly to a deep brown. Some are folded into the rice for flavour, the rest go on top for crunch.

The techniques this recipe uses

Drain and rinse
Canning liquid clouds a sauce and salts it blind: rinse until the water runs clear.

Frequently asked questions

Why should the lentils still be slightly firm after fifteen minutes?

They finish cooking for another fifteen minutes with the rice. Cooked through from the start, they collapse into purée and the dish loses the contrast between the grains. Drain them but keep the cooking water, which flavours and colours the rice.

Why is part of the fried onion stirred into the rice?

The two portions do different jobs: the third that is stirred in perfumes everything with caramelised sweetness, while the rest, added at the last moment, provides crunch. Mix it all in and nothing crisp survives to the table.

My onions brown too fast, or never crisp. What is the trick?

Twenty to twenty-five minutes over medium heat is what it takes: too hot and they blacken outside while staying soft; too gentle and they stew without ever crisping. Slice them thinly and evenly, stir often, then drain and salt at once. Keep the flavoured oil for coating the rice.

Eating vegetarian on a tight budget, with variety

A dried pulse, a grain and one strong aromatic: the structure working kitchens have always used, and how to make it taste different every single day.

Rice and beans, the dish everyone invented

Why the same rice and pulse pairing turns up on every continent, and what each kitchen added to it on its own.

Lebanese mezze, a table that is mostly vegetarian

Why the Lebanese table puts vegetables at the centre, how to balance tahini and lemon, and how to build a mezze for guests.

Mujaddara

Method

The techniques this recipe uses

This recipe also appears in

Nutrition per serving

Frequently asked questions

Read more

Have you cooked this dish?

More recipes from Lebanon

Balila, warm chickpea salad

Knafeh

Za'atar Manaqeesh

Recipes in the same spirit