Grandma’s Mjadra

Vegan, gluten free heartwarmer

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice
• 4 cups of water
• salt
• 1 cup dried lentils, rinsed
• 1 cup long grain white rice
• recipe portions: 4-5 people

Instructions

STEP 1:

Heat 2 tbsp of oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion, garlic cloves, cumin, cinnamom and allspice, sauté until onion softens, about 4 minutes. Add water and lentils, bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, 10 minutes. Stir in rice; return to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and cook until liquid is absorbed and rice and lentils are tender, about 15 minutes longer, or until however tender you want them done.

STEP 2:

STEP 3:

for fried onions: take another 2 onions and slice them into long strips. (optional: put the strips in a ziplock bag along with some flour, and shake the bag until the strips are coated – this helps with the frying) pour an inch of vegetable oil into a skillet and heat until boiling (test with water to see how hot it is) then pour the onion strips in. Fry them until they start to blacken, then take them out of the skillet and put them onto a paper towel to let them dry a bit. Garnish the lentils with the fried onions and serve.