Tags
Shortly after I started working at my current company, I noticed that my coworkers were under a spell. Every Thursday around noon, they would murmur something like “majadah” and drift, in a small cloud of humanity, toward the building elevator. After a few weeks I figured out that the cafe on the ground floor of the building, which generally turned out Mediterraneanish salads and sandwiches expertly tailored to the office crowd (not to mention a mean egg-and-bacon breakfast sandwich), on Thursdays reverted to its Arab-Palestinian roots. The special of the day was a lentil-and-rice concoction called something like “mujadara,” although thanks to the joys of transcription from Arabic you may see it written as majadrah, megadarra or something else conveying the same general sounds.
I had actually made this dish several times before, but I had never had it prepared by an expert. Let me tell you, this simple combination is absolutely delicious. And the key is the long-caramelized onions — after my first experience, I made sure to always order extra onions. George, the owner, confided that cooking the onions takes all morning on Thursdays. Another touch of his that I liked is that the earthy lentils and rice are brightened by a fresh cucumber-and-tomato salad piled on top. This diced vegetable salad, in a lemon and olive oil dressing, is very popular in the Middle East, where I hear some people call it Israeli salad, and others call it Arab salad. I won’t take sides, but it’s very tasty stuff.
Back at home, I tried my hand at the recipe again. I made a fantastic discovery about caramelized onions. I also found that I preferred the firmer texture of small, green, French lentils in this dish to the traditional brown kind. It’s just too easy to overcook the brown lentils. Some people apparently add a teaspoon of cumin to the onions as they cook, but I find that the gorgeous richness of caramelized onions gives all the flavor I need.
My son Parker loves lentils, but so far he can’t stand raw tomato or cucumber, so for him I might add some shredded carrots to the dish, or add a salad of sliced roasted bell peppers (from a jar is fine) with yogurt.
Now that I’ve written the recipe out, it looks really complicated. It’s not. Just don’t try to make this from the beginning on a weeknight — do yourself a favor and make a batch of caramelized onions first. You can even cook the lentils the night before, saving their liquid for the rice, and all you’ll have left to do before dinner is a little stove time and some chopping.
Mujadara with tomato-cucumber salad
Adapted from Faye Levy, Claudia Roden and Cafe Savini
Serves 4-6
3 onions
⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup Le Puy lentils
1 cup basmati rice
1 cup diced tomatoes
1 cup diced cucumber
1 tablespoon lemon juice
More extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup chopped parsley
Onions (you should do this in advance)
- Heat the oil over medium-low in a large skillet for which you have a lid.
- Add the onions, cover and cook for 5-10 minutes, until they soften.
- Remove the lid and reduce heat to low.
- Continue to cook, stirring every 10 minutes or so, until dark golden brown — this could take more than an hour.
Lentils (you can do this in advance)
- Check lentils for stones, then put in a pan with 2 cups of water.
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover partially.
- Simmer for 15-20 minutes, until they are cooked but still firm.
- Drain lentils in a sieve or colander, and save the cooking water.
Mujadara
- Combine half the onions, the lentils, rice and 2 cups of the lentil cooking water (top it up with plain if you don’t have enough) in a large pan with a lid.
- Bring to a boil, add some salt (about a teaspoon), reduce heat to low and cook with the lid on for about 20 minutes, until the rice is done.
- Meanwhile, fry the rest of the onions over medium heat until dark brown.
- Mix the tomatoes and cucumbers in a bowl.
- In a separate bowl, add a pinch of salt to the lemon juice, and whisk in a little olive oil. Taste and add more salt and olive oil until you have the right balance.
- Toss the dressing with the tomatoes, cucumbers and parsley.
- Stir the fried onions into the lentils and rice, and top the whole thing with the cucumber-tomato salad.
