Mejadra

I love Middle Eastern cuisine and I also love comfort food and in an effort to eat vegan as much as possible I found this recipe in my Jerusalem cookbook that I just had to take a stab at creating. I wasn't about to claim myself master bubbe after one shot - but I gave it my best effort and in the end created a dish that I can keep in my back pocket when I'm left with just rice, lentils, and a couple of onions.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cup green or brown lentils
• 4 medium onions
• 3 T all purpose flour
• 1 cup sunflower oil (I used canola, it was all I had)
• 2 t cumin seeds
• 1 1/2 T coriander seeds
• 1 cup basmati rice
• 2 T olive oil
• 1/2 ground turmeric
• 1 1/2 t ground allspice
• 1 1/2 t ground cinnamon
• 1 t sugar
• 1 1/2 cup water
• salt and pepper to taste 

1. Place your lentils in a small saucepan and cover with plenty of water. Those little suckers will absorb most, so really cover with plenty of water. Bring to a boil and cook for 12-15 minutes until lentils are soft but have a slight bite. Drain and set aside.

2. Slice all four of the onions into small slivers, about 1cm thick. Do not be ashamed if you can't make it through without crying. I had to stop three or four times just to clear my eyes out. Kinda rough, totally worth it.

3. Coat your onion slices with the flour and a touch of salt. Nothing crazy, just want to lightly coat them.

4. In a large saucepan, bring the oil up to heat. I tested the make sure it was nice and hot by taking a small piece of onion and watching it sizzle. I watched the temperature of the oil through the entire processes to ensure that my onions would not burn.

5. The onions stay in the oil for 5-7 minutes or until they turn a gorgeous golden brown and your kitchen begins to smell oh-so-sweet.

6. Remove using a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel. Quickly sprinkle a touch more salt right as they come out of the oil. Set aside your onions to cool.

7. In another large saucepan over medium heat, add the cumin seeds and coriander seeds. Let them toast in the pan for 1-2 minutes. I was really excited to use these spices since a) I never had before and b) because I love ground cumin and ground coriander.

8. Add the basmati rice, olive oil, turmeric, allspice, cinnamon, sugar, salt and pepper to the saucepan. Stir until all of the rice is coated with the olive oil and spices. Enjoy this stage of the dish, the aroma is captivating.

9. Add the drained lentils and the water. Bring to a boil. Cover with a lid and simmer over very low heat for 15 minutes.

10. After 15 minutes, remove from the heat and remove the lid. Quickly cover the pan with a tea towel and seal tightly with the lid again and set aside for 10 minutes. I did not want to use a tea towel so I covered the pan with a couple layers of folder paper towel.

11. After the dish has had a chance to rest for 10 minutes, use half of the fried onions and stir into the mejadra. 

12. Scoop into a bowl. Sprinkle with the remaining fried onions, and cut a fig in half for garnish and for taste. 

The complexity of these flavors are really quite stunning for a dish that had three standalone ingredients. I was pleasantly surprised by the ease of the process because going into it I was quite nervous to fry onions. I want to make this dish for like 10 people one day. Maybe attempt to make naan bread and some baba ghanoush. 

In the end - this cookbook that I've had for months is chalked full of inspiration. I've made a list of at least 3 more dishes I want to try in the next month or so. Probably not vegan, but whatevs, yolo!

Cheers,

Kate