Name: Levantine Lentil Mujadara with Crisp Onions
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 70 min
Yield: 5 servings
Cuisine: Levantine
Ingredients: 250 g whole red lentils; 200 g long grain rice, rinsed; 4 large onions, sliced very thinly; 150 ml cold-pressed sesame oil, for frying; 2 teaspoons ground cumin; half a teaspoon ground allspice; 800 ml water; to taste salt and black pepper

Before you cook

The onions are the dish. Fry them well past golden, to a deep mahogany, because that is where the sweetness and the smell come from.

Take them out the moment they hit that colour. Carry-over heat will push them from dark to bitter in under a minute.

Method

Slice the onions as thinly as you can so they fry evenly.
Fry them in the oil over medium heat, stirring, for twenty minutes.
Lift them out at deep mahogany and drain on paper before they darken further.
Simmer the rinsed lentils in the water for fifteen minutes until half tender.
Stir the cumin and allspice into three tablespoons of the onion oil.
Add the spiced oil and the rinsed rice to the lentils and their liquid.
Cover and cook on the lowest heat for eighteen minutes without lifting the lid.
Rest off the heat, still covered, for a further ten minutes.
Fork through gently, folding in half the crisp onions and the seasoning.
Pile the rest of the onions on top and serve warm or at room temperature.

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