Mujadara is an arabic word that means “pockmarked.” Mujadara is served across the Middle East in various forms and goes by differing names, depending on where you are. It’s a beautiful dish layered with lentils and rice at the bottom, followed by caramelized onions.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
Ingredients of Mujadara
- 1 cup dried green lentils
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 ½ pounds yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 ¾ cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup basmati rice
- Salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- ½ cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
How to Make Mujadara
- Put the oil in a pan and fry onions into a medium heat for 30 minutes.
- While the onions cook, place the lentils in pan. Cover them with water and place the pot over high heat.
- When water boil, lower the heat and allow it to simmer for until the lentils are tender.
- After switch off the gas srain the lentils into a colander.
- Raise the heat under the onions to medium, add the garlic, cumin, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper, and cook 1 minute more, until very fragrant.
- Stir in the broth and rice.
- Cook the mixture to untill the rice is cooked for 20 minutes.
- Remove the pot from heat.
- Put lemon juice and cilantro into the pot with the rice.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Divide the mujadara onto plates and garnish with caramelized onions.
