Mujadara: lentils and rice with crispy onions

A humble Lebanese favourite of spiced lentils and rice, crowned with a tangle of deeply browned crispy onions. Cheap, comforting and much more than the sum of its parts.

Ingredients

• 3 Onions, thinly sliced
• 75 ml Olive oil
• 1 g Salt, a pinch
• 250 g Green lentils, rinsed
• 1 Onions, finely chopped
• 5 g Ground cumin
• 1 g Ground allspice
• 1 g Ground cinnamon
• 200 g Basmati rice, rinsed
• 6 g Salt
• 1 g Black pepper
• 1 Cucumber, chopped
• 3 Tomatoes, chopped
• 15 g Fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 Lemons, half juiced, half in wedges
• 15 ml Olive oil

Method

1. Heat the oil in a wide frying pan over a medium-high heat. Fry the sliced onions, stirring often and turning the heat down as they darken, until deep brown and crisp. Lift out onto kitchen paper, sprinkle with salt, and keep the oil.
2. Meanwhile, simmer the lentils in 1 litre of water until just tender but still holding their shape. Don't drain.
3. In a large pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the onion oil and soften the chopped onion for 5 minutes. Stir in the cumin, allspice and cinnamon, then the rice. Add the lentils with their cooking water (top up so the liquid sits 1cm above the rice), the salt and pepper. Cover and cook on a low heat.
4. Turn off the heat and leave the pan covered so the rice finishes steaming.
5. Toss the cucumber, tomatoes and parsley with the lemon juice, olive oil and a pinch of salt.
6. Fluff up the lentils and rice with a fork, pile onto a platter and heap the crispy onions on top. Serve with the salad and lemon wedges.