Adventures in Cooking - Mujadarrah

I made something really delicious for dinner last night. It's called mujadarrah (and that is just one of many spelling variations). Basically it is lentils and rice and onions, plus some tasty spices.

I found it while cruising around one of many recipe websites I frequent (I am obsessed with finding new foods lately). I was specifically looking for recipes that include lentils, because I bought two bags of dried lentils and then realized I didn't know how to cook them. I don't know - I broke the Golden Rule of Grocery Shopping and didn't eat before I went, so I came back with some wacky stuff.

Around 8pm last night I decided it was probably time to eat, so I cooked up a batch of this tasty deliciousness. And now I'm going to share the recipe, because I love it so much.

MUJADARRAH
3 large onions, cut into rings (as thick or as thin as you like)
3/4 cup of EVOO
1 1/4 cup dried lentils, rinsed and drained
1 cup long grain rice
4 1/2 cups water
3 cloves garlic, minced (1 1/2 tsp. of the pre-minced stuff, if that's how you roll)

SPICE BLEND
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. allspice

A NOTE ABOUT THE SPICES
I don't have allspice, apparently. What I DO have is garam masala, which is basically a blend of Indian-type spices (cumin, corriander, cardamom, cloves...basically all the C's). I figured that since allspice is a blend of largely warm-tasting spices, garam masala would do the trick. I was right. It. Was. SO. GOOD.

INSTRUCTIONS
1) Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
2) Mix spices together, set aside.
3) When oil is hot, fry onions until they become tender and start to brown (have a splatter screen handy - trust me). Remove from oil and set aside in a covered dish.
4) Add garlic and spice mix to the oil. Cook until garlic becomes soft, being careful not to burn the garlic.
5) Add the water and bring to a boil.
6) Add dried lentils and simmer for about 5 minutes.
7) Add rice. Turn heat to low and simmer until all of the liquid has been absorbed, stirring occasionally.
8) Add onions and stir gently. Serve.

I find that it pairs quite nicely with multi-grain french bread, but I think pita bread or something similar would also be good. Basically any kind of bread that's got a nice nuttiness to it.

Also, I know it seems like a lot of EVOO at the beginning, but trust me - it's worth it. The onion come out so tender and so delicious, and they infuse the oil with onion-y goodness. Please don't skip that step. It's like adding a belt to a pair of pants - it just finishes off the dish perfectly.

WHAT I WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY
1) Cut the salt in half. I thought it was a lot of salt at the time, but I figured the recipe had a good reason. Turns out my instinct was right. If you like salt, cool. But next time I'm going for 1 tsp.
2) Cut the onions into long strips, instead of rings. My eyes are pretty sensitive to onion fumes to begin with, but to take the time to separate the onion rings? Oh man, I broke so many of those toxic onion cell walls, I was practically BAWLING by the time I was done. So next time I am going to save myself some hassle and a lot of tears, and cut them into long strips.
3) Eat a spinach salad alongside. It's a good, hearty meal, but I really wished that I had some vegetables (and unfortunately, fried onions don't count as a veggie).

THE BOTTOM LINE
This dish is both tasty and filling, and I suspect it might even be food for you. This is a very easy dish to make, and it goes relatively quickly (it's a good "oh crap what am I going to eat tonight?" kind of dinner). This dish is versatile - you can serve it as a main course or as a side.

This is also a relatively inexpensive dish (I had all of the ingredients on-hand. If you don't have some of the spices, it might run you a little more, but try to think of it as an investment in tasty). I like it, and once I'm done farting from all the lentils I ate last night, I am definitely going to make it again.