I am not a huge fan of any legumes, but I’m trying to change that. Little by little I am adding them to my diet and am always looking for recipes, how to incorporate them without hating it. Today’s dish is Ode to lentils and caramelised onions.   

Mujadara or lentils and rice with caramelised onions is a simple and classic Arabic dish that is super easy to make. For the recipe you need basic ingredients that are probably already in your pantry. It’s vegan, gluten free and can be dairy free. If you are a lentils fan, you have to try it. 

It sounds so simple and plain, but caramelised onions add a kick to this dish with its sweetness. 

Ingredients for 4 portions:

• 1 cups brown/green lentils 
• 3 cups of water
• 0.5 cup rice (I used basmati)
• 3 tbsp olive oil 
• 5 onions 4 chopped, 1 sliced
• 1 tsp ground cumin
•  1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• Yogurt (for serving)

1. Rinse lentils and add in a pot with 2 cups of water. Bring it to boil and cook covered ~15 min. Lentils should be tender, but not fully cooked. 
2. While lentils are simmering, prepare caramelised onions. 
3. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large pan over medium heat and fry chopped onions until golden brown,  12-15 min. Set aside. 
4. Rinse the rice and place it to the pot with lentils. Add salt, 1 cup of water. Bring it to boil, reduce heat and simmer until rice is tender (I cooked around 14 min). 
5. In the same pan that chopped onions were fried add remaining olive oil and fry sliced onion until it caramelises. At the end increase the heat, this way you will get crispier onions. 
6.  After the rice is tender, remove the pot from the heat and let it rest (covered) for around 5 min. 
7. Transfer caramelised chopped onions on top of the lentils and rice mixture, add cumin and black pepper  and toss to combine.
8. Serve mujadara with yogurt and caramelized sliced onions.