mudjardara recipe

Ingredients (4p)

• 160 g onion + 80 g onion
• 300 ml sunflower oil (for frying)
• 30 ml olive oil
• Pinch of nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon cumin powder
• ⅛ teaspoon of Aleppo pepper
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 bay leaf
• White pepper to taste
• 120 g basmati rice
• 120 g brown lentils
• 1 bunch of dill (about 20 g)
• 160 g Greek yogurt

Additional supplies:

• Kitchen paper

about mudjardara

A classic in Syria, Lebanon and Palestine, this delicious dish with rich flavors, often eaten by poor peasant families, is one of the oldest dishes in the region. And also the most popular: the dish people grow up with. For many chefs, making mudjardara is a testament to craftsmanship. Because if you can make a tasty mudjardara, you can cook. Ours is extra rich because we use a lot of spices. As is customary in the countries of origin, we serve a dill yogurt with it. Eating yogurt with this kind of dish is very common in many of our countries, such as the Levant, as well as in Iran and Afghanistan.

How do you make it?

1. Prepare onions:
   Cut the 160 g onion into thin half rings, making sure they are all the same thickness.
2. Fry onions:
   Heat the sunflower oil in a wok or large pan to 180°C. Fry the onions in portions until golden brown and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle them with a little salt. Do this slowly so that the onions get nice and crispy.
3. Fry aromatics:
   Heat the olive oil over low heat. Finely chop the remaining 80 g onion and fry it soft and sweet in the olive oil. Add the nutmeg, Aleppo pepper, cinnamon stick, bay leaf and a little white and black pepper.
4. Cook rice and lentils:
   Soak and rinse the basmati rice well until the water runs clear. Add the rice and lentils to the onion and add so much water that it just rises above the rice mixture. Add plenty of salt (taste the water, it should taste quite salty!). Bring to a boil with the lid on the pan. When it boils, turn down the heat to low and leave the lid on the pan. After about 15-20 minutes, the rice will be cooked and dry-steamed.
5. Making Dill Yogurt:
   Finely chop the dill and mix it into the Greek yogurt. Season to taste with a little salt.
6. Serving:
   Serve the rice-lentil mixture with the fried onions on top and add the dill yogurt. Sprinkle with black pepper to taste.