Mujaddara

 We discovered Mjadarah when living close to Neomonde, a Lebanese deli on the short list of what I miss most about Raleigh, NC. I lived there for over 20 years, lots of memories, but I miss Neomonde. Sigh.

So I tried to recreate this most wonderful of their dishes ... and it turns out that it isn't that hard. Lentils, rice, caramelized onions. My version is different, probably not traditional (typical recipes call for more rice than lentils) but often, it is every bit as good, maybe better. This tastes like I always wished home would taste.  Comfort food.

Ingredients:
4-6 large white onions (or yellow)
no garlic, that's right no garlic
1 cup brown rice (I use especially like the asian mixed rice shown below
1 cup green lentils (or brown, if you can't find green)
1 cinnamon stick
roasted cumin seeds
veggie bouillon (optional)
black pepper

First quarter the onions and slice crosswise into thin strips. Saute in a generous amount of olive oil unless you are on a diet. Stir cook for at least 30 minutes until the onion is caramelized to a nice dark brown.  The  olive oil is very tasty is I think more is better than less. If you are on a diet, this will be so delicious that you will not need the extra oil.

Feel free to stir the onions as often as you like. Sometimes I cover them, sometimes not.  They smell wonderful.

While the onions are cooking, rinse the rice. I always rinse rice 3 times so the grains separate nicely when cooked. Add water to cover and simmer. Unfortunately, I never measure the water. I cover the rice in enough water to have a little over 0.5 inches above the rice. I measure against a known point on my finger from the bottom of the pot I cook the rice in. Not helpful, I know. Cover the pot and turn the rice on high until it starts boiling, then lower to a simmer.

Stir the onions.

While the rice and onions are cooking, pick through the lentils, discarding the bad ones, keeping our eye peeled for the occasional pebble. I've only seen a couple over several years, but you don't want anyone to accidentally crunch down on one. Wash the lentils, cover and simmer in 2.5 cups of water with the cinnamon stick.

Stir the onions.

Occasionally test the lentils and turn off when the lentils are soft enough to eat, but before they get mushy (about 30 minutes). Some lentils get mushy quickly, but the green ones are not so delicate. Towards the end of cooking, optionally add bouillon. Bouillon is suggested, but totally optional.This dish has plenty of flavor without.

Stir the onions and add generous grind of roasted cumin seeds.

The mixed brown rice I use takes about 30 min to cook, but most brown rice takes 45 minutes. When the rice is tender and has absorbed most of the water turn it off.

Stir the onions.

When everything is done, mix together in the cast iron pan with the onions. Add a generous grind of black pepper. If you didn't use bouillon,  add salt to taste. Let it rest for a while if you aren't hungry. I'm usually hungry, or I wouldn't have started cooking. It will be even better tomorrow.

Feel free to improvise. I've added mushrooms & ginger,  fire roasted tomatoes, more or less rice & lentils, different spices. I've cooked it all in one dish when feeling lazy (caramelize onions then add rice, lentils & water & cook). It is always tasty.

If this is for company, make LOTS of onions and only mix in half. Use the rest as a decorative topping. This is traditional, but it seems to miss the point of distribution the wonderful onions through out the dish.

Sweet Coconut Rice

This recipe came from a newsletter by yoga instructor Darshana Weill. We tried it for a Sunday breakfast and really enjoyed it. It is perfect for those cold, dreary weekend mornings when you really don't want to hurry out.

• 1 cup sweet brown rice
• ½ cup barley (or millet, oat groats or other crunchy grain
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 ½ cups water (1 cup if using light coconut milk)
  

Rinse the rice (and possibly other grain). Place all ingredients in a saucepan.
Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer, cover and let cook for 55 minutes.



We sometimes add raisins & nuts at the end. Darshana suggested trying spices; mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, turmeric, curry, cumin (about 1 tsp of each), or a Bengal spice teabag. We haven't tried that yet.

Discovering Bitter Melon

We happened to be on Clement St. earlier this week and stopped at one of the big Chinese markets. I picked up 2 vegetables to try, a bitter melon and a silk gourd which was not a silk gourd, but that is another meal.


I spent a few minutes on internet looking for recipe ideas but started getting hungry so I went with a variation of one of the simple dishes. Next time I'm going to try some of the tasty looking dishes on the Hare Krsna website. Come for the chanting - stay for the food.

After trying a few more methods of cooking bitter melon, I believe this is my favorite. The spices work really well with the bitter flavor and the potatoes provide a comforting backdrop to the pungent bite of the squash. The last coking I doubled this recipe (3 medium bitter melons & 4 yukon gold potatoes) and 3 people consumed the entire pan.

Potato and Bitter Melon Hash Browns
This is somewhat reminiscent of the potato and onion hash browns typically served with eggs. In fact this would be really good with eggs.

1 bitter melon (made about 2 cups diced)
fingerling potatoes (also about 2 cups diced)
2 Tbs ghee
turmeric
salt
asafoetida
1 Tbs mustard seeds
1 sprig of fresh curry leaves
red chili powder
1.5 square inch of ginger finely diced
sliced jalapeño peppers

Slice and dice the bitter melon into 1/2" cubes Remove the seeds from the bitter melon when you slice it. I toasted the seeds and thought they were good. I've also left the seeds in when they were young and moderately tender. If the squash is more mature and there is a bit of red around he seeds, remove the seeds and the center pulp. Put the bitter melon into a glass bowl and toss with turmeric and salt. Let it sit while you clean and dice the potatoes.

Heat the ghee in a skillet, add the mustard seeds, ginger and curry leaves. They will sputter and pop if the oil is hot enough. Add the bitter melon and potatoes, sprinkle with a pinch of asafoetida, cover and cook on fairly hight heat. While cooking, turn the veggies to brown on their sides, scraping the skillet as you go. The combination of frying on the bottom and steaming should cook the potatoes and bitter melon till they are tender and nicely browned. Sprinkle with red chili powder about 5 minutes before the dish is finished.

We served this with assorted papadum and chutneys and wished we had eggs.