One of Chef El-Tawel's favourite dinners as a kid was mujaddara — a cinnamon and lentil rice dish with fried onions and yogurt on top. It’s what he thought of when edible Ottawa asked him for a recipe that spoke to his heritage and his culinary philosophy. His family served it with a simple salad and that was dinner, he says.
Cooking
Mujaddara rice Serves 4
360 grams basmati rice, soaked and drained
3 medium white onions
2¾ cups water
250 grams lentils, par cooked
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1½ tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon canola oil
Soak the rice in cold water for 30 minutes prior to use and drain well.
Place lentils in a pot and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil and then simmer until they are just tender to the bite. Drain and set aside.
Slice the white onions thinly and caramelize in canola oil in a tall-sided pot that you will be cooking the rice in.
Once the onions are caramelized, leave them in the pot and add your rice along with your par-cooked lentils, cinnamon, salt and water. Bring rice to a quick boil and immediately turn down to a simmer, stir very well in this process to make sure the lentils and onions are evenly dispersed.
Wrap the lid of the pot with a clean cloth and put the cloth-lined lid on the rice.
The tell-tale sign that rice is ready is about 14 to 15 minutes later when the rice will start to poke upwards. Take the rice off the heat and allow to sit covered for about 8 to 10 minutes.
To serve, top with pressed yogurt (labneh), caramelized onions, chopped herbs or green onions.
Spoon salad Serves 4
2 English cucumbers, small dice
1 pomegranate, seeded and popped out of shell
5 large tomatoes, small dice
2 red onions, small dice
Dressing
4 tablespoons sumac
2 tablespoons mild Turkish pepper paste*
1½ tablespoons Aleppo pepper*
1 tablespoon tomato paste
200 ml olive oil (or more, as desired)
100 ml lemon juice (or more, as desired)
4 tablespoons kosher salt (or more, as desired)
150 ml pomegranate molasses
Make sure all cuts are uniform as the principle of this salad is that it is to be eaten with a spoon and no fork whatsoever. “The smaller you cut [the pieces], the more you love the people you are serving it to,” says the proverb.
Put all of the cut vegetables in a mixing bowl and dress them with the items in the dressing portion of the recipe. Allow flavours to mellow for at least one hour prior to serving.
Finish with a drizzle of pomegranate molasses, pomegranate seeds and some sharp-flavoured herbs (baby basil in this case.) This salad will keep in the fridge for up to three days. Olive oil, lemon juice and salt will give it a quick refresh, if needed.
*Find these ingredients at the Mid-East Food Centre on Belfast Rd., Ottawa.
