I discovered this dish in Jerusalem from Yotam Ottolenghi and fell in love with picture. I just couldn’t NOT make this recipe. It made me travel with all the spices and textures… It is basically rice + lentils + fried onions, so yummy.

I love deep fried food but I hate actually frying food because I had a bad incident while making churros a few years ago. I had to test this one though, so I fried the onions anyway (and survived, thank God) and it was sooo delicious I don’t regret it. It really brings another dimension to the dish, it adds crispiness and some delicious fatty bits.

There are a LOT of recipe that I want to try in this book. Have you heard of it? No sponsored post here, I just genuinely loved it and thought I’d share.

Mejadra (serves 4) :

• 200g basmati rice
• 250g green lentils
• 4 onions
• 3 tbsp flour
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1,5 tsp coriander seeds
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1,5 tsp 4 spice
• 1,5 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Vegetable oil (for frying)
• Salt and pepper

Pour the lentils in a big pot, cover with a lot of water. Bring to a boil and let it cook 15 minutes. Lentils will still be crunchy and that is okay. Drain and set aside.

Peel and slice onions finely.

In a shallow plate, add the onions. Sprinkle with flour. Add 1 tsp salt. Mix with your hands.

In a frying pan, heat a few inches of oil to fry the onions.

Fry the onions for 5 to 7 minutes when the oil is hot enough, proceed in 3 batches to avoid overcrowding the pan. Stir occasionally.

Drain the onions with a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate covered with paper towel.

Pour the oil of the pan out and use a paper towel to clean it roughly. Don’t wash it though.

Add the cumin and coriander seeds. Fry on medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes.

Pour the rice, olive oil, spices, sugar, 1/2 tsp salt and a few pinches of pepper. Mix well to coat the rice.

Add the lentils and 35cl water. Bring to a boil, cover and cook on very low heat for 15 minutes.

Turn the heat down. Take the lid off and add a clean kitchen towel on top of the frying pan, put the lid back on. Let it rest for 10 minutes.

Add 3/4 of the fried onions to the rice, mix well. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with the remaining fried onions.