Saturday, November 7, 2009

Mujadarah

Mujadarah is a simple Middle Eastern dish that consists of rice/wheat/groats and black/brown lentils together with browned onions that were sauteed in olive oil.It is also known as mejadra,mudardara or moujadra and has several regional versions.The versions are sometimes based on the lentils used -Brown mujadarah with its brown/black lentils ( whole black masoor dal) or Yellow version which uses red split lentils (split masoor or red gram dal).Sometimes the different versions can be based on whether the lentils are pureed or not.Plainly speaking we can say that this is a Middle eastern cousin of Indian Khichdi or lets say its is a variation of Savoury Pongal especially when it is made using yellow dal.

I came across this in Nupur's Blog and it looked soooooooo good and so easy that I immediately tried it out and the results were great.You can use brown lentils (whole black masoor dal) or French Green Lentils for this brown version.Nupur has used sprouted brown lentils.Refer here for various options and substitutes.Though there are two variants of Mujadarah as per wiki one yellow with red split lentils (orange/red masoor dal) and other brown using Brown lentils,as per Lindy from whom Nupur adapted the recipe,orange masoor is not preferred as it gets cooked too fast.So I think we can stick to moong dal/toor dal while making a yellow version just like Pongal.

Ingredients:
Long Grained Rice (Basmati):1/2 cup
Brown Lentils (Whole Black Masoor) :1/2 cup
Red Onions: 2-3 big (Use as much onions as you like) chopped long and thin
Olive Oil: 2 tbsp +
Salt
Pepper
Cilantro :For garnish

Preparation:
I soaked the lentils in hot water for an hour .You can omit this step.I did this as I was unsure whether they will cook as fast as Basmati which takes little time only.Cook the rice and lentils together till tender.This can be done in a big pan on stove top or pressure cooker as per choice.I did stove top cooking only.

Heat olive oil in a frying pan and saute thin and fine chopped onions till brown.This may take 20+ minutes.

Season the rice-lentil mix with adequate salt and generous grating of pepper.Add the browned onions along with the oil if any and mix well and cover and keep aside for 10-15 minutes till the flavours are absorbed.

Serve hot garnished with cilantro/parsley along with choice of accompaniments.


I completely agree with Nupur.You have to eat it to believe it.Awesome it was.Thanks Nupur for the hearty recipe.Do read her verdict and checkout the beautiful pic.Mine is not a patch on it as I could not wait to taste it.The estimate serves 2 or 1 depending on your greed ;).Oh, Ok,a little part also goes to MLLA #17 : an event by the Well Seasoned Susan and currently at Sra of when my Soup came alive

10 Comments:

Priya Suresh said...

SUch a healthy and filling dish, looks prefect!

sra said...

Thanks, Sweatha, for parting with some for us :) This sounds like a nice, uncomplicated recipe.

I find black masoor particularly hard to cook, not that I use it much. The second or third time I tried cooking it, I made sure to soak it ahead.

Sunshinemom said...

I love saboot masur with rice. This one is naturally strikes me as SUPERB!

Yasmeen said...

Super good,this looks very similar to the Koshary from egyptian cuisine,love the lentils :D

Supriya said...

Looks good...same thoughts as Yasmeen

ashsdelicacies.blogspot.ca said...

Healthy n yummy dish dear...

Tina said...

Yummy dish....

Parita said...

That is seriously very easy and delicious dish!

ST said...

Healthy and yummy dish dear:)

Cham said...

Black masoor I never cooked before. Looks delicious and nutritious too!

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