Overview
Mojardara is a middle eastern rice, Lentils dish topped with crispy onions.
We primarily use this as a bed for many of our Lamb based dishes served Hot but once used we tend to use it up over the course of the week with other cooks as a side dish.
Preparation Time
30
Cook Time
Onions 20 Minutes
Rice 30 Minutes
Serves
6 – 8
Ingredients
- 3 Large Brown Onions (cut in half then sliced)
- Vegetable Oil (For Frying)
- 500g Basmati Rice
- 750ml Boiling Water
- 2Tbsp Table Salt
- 1 Tbsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1 Tbsp Ground Corriander
- 1 Tbsp Ground Cumin
- 2 Tbsp Cumin Seeds
- 1 Tin Green Lentils (in brine or water)
- Pomegranate Seeds (If you have some or Raisin’s)
Method
For the Onions
The onions are set aside to be added later so these can be prepared in advance before serving. However do not prepare more than 6 hours before serving as the onions will start to go soggy, Particularly if you stored them in the fridge
- Heat a large saucepan (Not a frying pan) of vegetable oil on high heat until ready to use.
- Fry the brown onion slices in batches so as to not lose the temperature of the oil. fry the onions until golden brown then set aside on a plate lined with kitchen roll to absorb the excess fat.
- Set the onions aside for later use. (Discard the Oil when cool)
For the Rice
- Drain your tin of lentils and wash with water
- Dry fry the cumin seeds in a large saucepan with a lid for 1 – 2 minutes but do not burn.
- Add the rice and lentils to the saucepan and stir
- Add the dry spices including the salt to the top of the rice and stir in for 10 – 20 seconds
- Add the water and stir again until mixed
- Turn your heat down to its lowest setting and leave to simmer with the lid on for 30 Minutes. (Do not be tempted to lift the lid, your rice will look like its cooking dry.)
- After 30 minutes turn off the heat and leave again for a further 15 minutes with the lid on.
- Break apart with a fork and serve topped with the crispy onions.
You can choose to stir in the pomegranate or raisins or simply top the rice with a few seeds, When it’s warm it does not necessarily need the extra sweetness, but used as basmati when cold it welcomes a little extra sweetness.
This pairs well with:-