Megadarra - A traditional jewish lentil recipe

This dish or rice and lentils is a classic vegetarian meal. I made it the other day and its delicious.

The recipe came from my "Kosher cooking" book.

Ingredients: Serves 4 to 6


300g large brown or green lentils.
3 tbps olive oil
3 brown onions: 1 chopped, 2 thinly sliced
1 tsp ground cumin
1tsp ground cinamon.
3 cardamon pods
250g long grain rice, rinsed.
1 cup vegetable stock
salt and pepper to taste


Method.
1 Put the lentils in a large saucepan with enough water to cover generously. Its more water that you would put for rice for example. Bring it to boil, then simmer, for about 30 minutes or until tender. If you think its getting dry without the lentils being cooked, add bits of water. it shouldn't get 100% dry because you haven't cooked the rice yet.
Skim off any scum that forms on the top. when its almost ready go to step 2.

2 Heat half of the oil in a pan, add the chopped onion and fry for 5 minutes or until golden brown. Stir in half the cumin and half the cinnamon.

3 Add the fried onion to the pan of the lentils. Add the cardamom pods, rice and the stock. Mix well, then bring to boil again.  Reduce the hear and cover to simmer until the rice is tender and (NOW YES) all the liquid has been absorbed. If the mixture appears a little too dry, add some extra water or stock. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

4 Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a pan, add the sliced onions and fry for about 10 minutes, until dark brown, caramelized and crisp. Sprinkle in the remaining cumin and cinnamon just before the end of cooking.

5 To serve, pile the rice and lentil mixture on to a serving dish, then top with the browned caramelized onions. Serve immediately.