Musings on Mujaddara

One thing that many cultures seem to share is a dish that combines lentils and rice or beans and grains - there's the Indian kicchuri, or yellow split peas and rice, the Caribbean peas and rice, the Central American staple of black beans and rice, Italian pasta fazool, and the middle eastern Mujadarra. I didn't learn until a few years ago, that beans and rice together, provide a complete protein. Plus, they are just delicious together.

Mujaddara is one of my favorite dishes to make, especially to feed a crowd. It seems to go well with many different cuisines. Everyone in my family loves it. I understand that it is a middle eastern staple. I have seen recipes with/ without cinnamon, some with cumin, some call for cooking lentils separately, etc. But this is how I make mine. Simple, fabulous goodness.

1 cup basmati or jasmine rice
1 cup brown lentils (the regular European/ french lentil)
3 to 3-1/2 cup water
salt and pepper to taste
1 stick cinnamon, broken into a couple of pieces (or 1 tsp ground)
1 large onion
4 - 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (this is what makes it yummy!)

Rinse the lentils and rice (wash it and drain off the water as best you can), then put it in a large pan with the salt, pepper and cinammon, add the 3 1/2 cups water and soak for 30 mins. Then bring it to a boil, when it boils, stir once and reduce the heat to low. Cover and let it cook slowly till all the water is absorbed (about 20-30 mins). While lentils are soaking, peel the onion, cut in half, slice thinly. In a saucepan, pour a generous amount of extra v. olive oil. Sautee the onions till nice and browned. this can take a while. Set aside. When lentils are cooked, serve topped with the onions.

In the photo, mujaddara served with rainbow Swiss chard and butternut squash yeriseri (South Indian coconut stew - recipe coming in another post). The rainbow chard was just cut in ribbons and sauteed with freshly chopped garlic in the same saucepan using leftover oil from the mujaddara onions.

My Paati's (grandma's) okra

With our hundred-degree summer days my ladies finger (okra) plants are so happy in the garden. If you live in the Southeastern US, they grow almost like weeds - all they need is sun and water. I am picking a few every day and squirrelling them away in the fridge until I have enough to make sauteed okra, Indian-style.

If you want the full recipe, my dear old friend Yvonne over at My Halal Kitchen wrote up a touching tribute to the recipe that has been handed down over the generations in my family. When I was a student in Ohio (no Indian grocery store in Athens, horrors!), I adapted the recipe to use ingredients I could find while preserving the authenticity of taste. Tender, fresh okra works best. For minimum sliminess, make sure the okra isn't bruised and brown looking, and make sure to pat dry before sauteeing.

You can read Yvonne's very sweet post with my grandma's recipe, here http://www.myhalalkitchen.com/2010/09/30/okra-south-indian-style/