Confession time.
My name is Nada, and I am a food hoarder.
It’s true. I constantly buy more of the same foods and squirrel them away in cupboards and drawers where they remain long-forgotten for months on end. I discovered this most unfortunate trait during my Living with less challenge last month.
Determined to lower my weekly grocery shopping bill, declutter my kitchen and use up any surplus pantry staples, I turned the contents of my cupboards inside out, and boy did I find some gems. Unopened packets of rice noodles and rice paper, wakame and kombu seaweed, whole flaxseeds, freekeh, TVP chunks, chickpea flour and bag upon bag of dried legumes. Split peas, black-eyed peas, adzuki beans and a plethora of lentils in all their varieties – I’m fairly certain I could’ve given the bulk bins at my favourite supermarket a run for their money with the stock I had accumulated.
In any case, I’m happy to report that I managed to whittle down my pantry quite nicely throughout the month of March.
Through my kitchen experiments, I discovered that contrary to the faintly printed date at the bottom of a year-old box, TVP doesn’t really expire; that rice noodles and gluten-free pasta are essentially one and the same; and that I don’t make Mujaddara nearly as often as I should.
Also known as Mudardara in some circles, Mujaddara is a humble Levantine dish of brown lentils and white rice traditionally topped with crispy caramelised onions. It may not sound like much, but this cumin-infused combination is downright delicious, filling and of course incredibly frugal.
My brown rice version is a little more wholesome but every bit as tasty as the original, I promise.
Brown Rice Mujaddara
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown lentils washed and rinsed
- 1 cup brown rice
- 1 red onion finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2-1 tbsp cumin powder
- Sea salt to taste
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- Spring onions or fried onions to garnish
Instructions
- In a a medium pot on moderate heat, sauté the onions and in olive oil for 3-5 minutes or until softened. Add the cumin and garlic and cook for an additional minute until fragrant.
- Add the rice, lentils and 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil then lower heat and cover, allowing to simmer and cook until all water is absorbed, about 20-25 minutes.
- Season with salt and additional cumin if desired. Do a quick taste test to ensure lentils and rice are cooked through. If needed, add another 1/2 cup of water and allow to cook until absorbed.
- Garnish with caramelised onions or fresh spring onions and serve.
Older readers of this blog may recall that I had a recipe for this very dish quite some time ago, but it was unfortunately sucked up into the ether when my previous web host decided to unceremoniously delete all of my content a few years ago. In any case, what’s past is past.
My favourite thing about Mujaddara is that it’s so versatile and incredibly satiating.
I initially whipped up a huge batch to go with a selection of mezzes as part of a meal-prep bowl (tofu halloumi, kale fattoush, beetroot hummus and roasted cauliflower) but ended up devouring the leftovers on top salads, as a base for buddha bowls and even as a supplement to a vegetable soup.
Really, you could have this anywhere you would have rice, flavour combinations allowing, of course.
A few notes:
- Some recipes call for cooking the rice and lentils separately, but I personally prefer the flavour and convenience of making everything in the same pot.
- If you want to shorten the cooking time, try soaking your rice and lentils separately overnight before combining to cook.
- I always use a heat distributor for rice and grain dishes like this one (thank you Mama for the lifelong tip), and would highly recommend it as it helps the dish cook evenly and reduces the risk of getting those burned sticky bits of rice at the bottom of the pot.
- I serve mine with a drizzle of olive oil and fresh spring onions, but caramelised fried onions would definitely add a more “authentic” touch.
Until next time, friends.
Ha, that sounds so familiar! I’m exactly the same, my cupboards are filled to the brim with pantry staples. Different kinds of pasta, brown, white, wild, basmati, glutinous rice, all kinds of legumes… loads of cans and jars… I could most definitely use a ‘live with less grocery shopping’-challenge for a while.
This mujadarra sounds delicious by the way!
Simple and tasty.
I started the lentils and rice while I was chopping and frying the onions and then added them to the cook pot when they were caramelized. It’s an extra pan, but I have more patience to let the onions cook if the whole dish isn’t waiting for that on step. I also added a shot of lime juice to the frying onions just for a tiny bit of brightness. It’s not very noticeable (to me) in the final product, but it came out pretty good.
Another note, about the spices: I wasn’t sure about using quite so much cumin, so I put 2 teaspoons of cumin in with the frying onions. It was not overpowering at all in the finished dish, and when I make it again I will definitely go for the full tablespoon of cumin.
I googled brown rice mujaddara and your recipe popped up. Made it tonight, but I did have to cook it about 10 min longer. It was delicious, I’ll be making this often!