Mujaddara

The ancient Levantine dish of lentils, rice, and caramelized onions: a meal so old it is named in the Bible as the pottage of the poor and the wise

Origin: Levant

From the journey of Lentils.

Mujaddara, from the Arabic for 'pockmarked', describing the lentils in the rice, is one of the oldest continuously cooked dishes in the world. Its core combination of lentils, grain, and allium has existed since the ancient Near East. It spread through Arab, Persian, and Ottoman cooking and is today eaten from Lebanon and Syria to Palestine, Jordan, and Egypt. It is the food of everyday life: cheap, nourishing, and, when the onions are taken to a deep, jammy caramel, deeply delicious.

Ingredients

Base

  • 250 g green or brown lentils
  • 200 g long-grain white rice
  • 600 ml water

Caramelized onions

  • 3 large onions, thinly sliced into half-moons
  • 80 ml olive oil

Spices

  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 0.5 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 0.5 tsp ground allspice

Seasoning

  • 1 tsp salt, plus more to taste

To serve

  • 1 cup plain yoghurt, to serve

Method

  1. Heat the olive oil in a wide, heavy pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring often, for 30–40 minutes until deeply golden-brown and jammy.
  2. While the onions cook, rinse the lentils and pick out any stones. Place in a saucepan with 600ml water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes until just tender but not yet falling apart. Season with salt.
  3. Remove half the caramelized onions and set aside for serving. To the remaining onions in the pan, add the cumin, cinnamon, and allspice. Stir for 30 seconds.
  4. Add the rinsed rice to the onion pan. Stir to coat with the spiced oil. Add the par-cooked lentils along with their cooking water (top up with fresh water if needed to reach 400ml liquid). Season well with salt.
  5. Bring to a boil, then reduce to the lowest possible heat. Cover tightly and cook for 18 minutes. Remove from heat and let steam for 10 minutes without lifting the lid.
  6. Fluff gently with a fork. Pile onto a platter and top with the reserved caramelized onions. Serve with cold yoghurt and a simple tomato salad.

Notes

Mujaddara is often called 'the food of the poor', but in Lebanon it is eaten with pride across all social strata. The dish appears in a 13th-century Arabic cookbook, Kitab al-Tabikh, and has changed very little since. Some versions use bulgur wheat instead of rice; the Levantine coastal version sometimes adds pomegranate molasses.

The Gastrographer

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