Mjeddrah

| Cuisine of Lebanon | Vegan cuisine

Mjeddrah is a stout lentil and rice stew, a Lebanese staple.

See also: Mejadra

Ingredients

• ½ cup brown lentils, soaked an hour or more
• ½ cup long grain brown rice, rinsed
• 3 cups water
• ½ cup onion, sliced
• ½ teaspoon whole or ground cumin
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Optional

• minced garlic
• dried chili pepper
• half a cinnamon stick
• a few cardamom pods
• chopped carrots, celery, etc. Not too much of this, I think, but a little is good.

Procedure

1. Pick over the lentils to remove any stones.
2. Sauté the onion and any other vegetables in the olive oil for a minute or two. Optionally, sauté the rice for a short time but do not let it burn.
3. Add the water and other ingredients, bring to a boil, and simmer, covered, for 40 minutes to an hour. You will have to check it occasionally and add water - the final product should have some liquid but should not be very soupy. It is finished when the rice and lentils are both no longer crunchy.

Variations

• A little Parmesan cheese is tasty sprinkled on as a garnish.
• Sauté some chopped onion and garlic quickly in oil until it browns (a slight burning is good), then stir it into some natural yogurt and use as a garnish.