Mjadara is one of the oldest and most humble dishes originating from Mesopotamia. It's a delightful celebration of texture and flavour using the most basic of ingredients; rice (or bulgar wheat), lentils and onions. This is a dish both of our families (and we're sure many others!) would rustle up on a weeknight quickly to get us all fed. It was a staple, but we've grown to really love and appreciate it for all it's simplicity.
You can, if you're feeling fancy, have this dish as a side to a more extravagant main but in our opinion, it's perfect as a main with a side of 'Khyar-bi-leban', which is a cucumber yoghurt side (included in the recipe below) and/or a simple salad like we've served it in this recipe.
Ingredients (Feeds 4):
- 1 cup of green lentils
- 1 1/2 cups of rice
- 100g of butter
- 2 onions (sliced)
- 1/2 cup of olive oil
- 2 tsp salt
Khyar-bi-leban (Cucumber yoghurt):
- 3 tbsp full fat Greek youghurt
- 2 minced garlic cloves
- 1/4 of a cucumber (diced)
- 2 tsp dried mint
- A pinch of salt
Method:
1. Mix the yoghurt, garlic, mint and a pinch of salt in a bowl and set aside to allow the flavours to infuse.
2. Wash the lentils in a bowl of cold water, pouring away any impurities that float to the top. Then place in a pan with enough water to cover the lentils, bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Wash the rice in a bowl of cold water, discarding the water and repeating until the water begins to run clear.
4. Once 15 minutes have past, drain the lentils, discarding the water.
5. Add the washed rice, the butter and salt to the pan of lentils and combine gently.
6. Add 2 1/4 cups of freshly boiled water, give a gentle stir and simmer on a low heat (with the lid on) for 15-20 minutes, until the rice is cooked.
7. Whilst the rice is cooking, heat the olive oil in a separate pan over a medium heat. Once hot, add the sliced onions and stir frequently for about 15 mins. This can seem like a long time, but you don't want to abandon them and risk burning the onions - once their colour starts to change, the final stage of caramelisation happens much quicker than you'd think. Once your desired colour is achieved (aim for dark, but not burned), remove the onions from the oil to stop the caramelisation process and set aside; retain the oil.
8. Once the rice is cooked, pour it into a serving dish, pour the caramelised onions over the top, then drizzle the dish with the onion infused olive oil from the caramelisation process.
9. Add the diced cucumber and 2 tbsp of water to the yoghurt mixture and mix to combine; that's your Khyar-bi-leban.
Serve the Mjadara on a plate with the cucumber yoghurt spooned over the top, enjoy!
We'd love to see your creations. If you try this recipe, do tag us @TheFoodInstatution
R & J x
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