Mujadara
You know those kind of meals that remind you of home? The ones that fill the entire house with that familiar comforting smell? The ones that bring you back to the times when you were in really young, coming home from school or a swim practice, starving and freezing? You get home and are ready to barge through front door to immediately yell at mom and ask her what is for dinner, except this time you know what is for dinner even just from the driveway. That familiar and wafting smell of caramelized onions, lentils, and rice. In my home we called this meal, mujadara and it will forever be one of my favorite meals.
This dish is so simple to make but does take time to ensure the onions are perfectly caramelized. Let’s get to it!
- Note: we served ours with chicken thighs as you can see in the picture. It is great as a side, but is also filling enough to be the main dish if you aren’t wanting any meat.
Ingredients
- 1 cup lentils
- 1 cup rice
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 2 teaspoons salt (to taste)
- 1 teaspoon pepper (to taste)
- 3 large onions, sliced very thinly
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- Yogurt
- Parsley
Instructions
- Boil lentils in 2 cups water for 20 mins or until cooked through
- Wash rice and add to lentils
- Season with salt, pepper, cumin, and 2 cups water
- Stir and bring up to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer
- Cook lentils and rice for 15-20 mins until rice is tender and water has been absorbed.
- In a large pot add oil and onions
- Season with additional salt and pepper
- Cook over medium heat until onions wilt and caramelize, about 45 mins
- (You want to make sure the onions do not have any crunch left to them at all and they have tuned a golden brown color)
- Remove from heat, add rice and lentils to combine
- Serve and top with a dollop of yogurt and some Parsley
- Enjoy!