This Gluten-Free Mujaddara recipe is adapted from a Jamie Magazine recipe by Jamie Oliver. This recipe for spiced rice and lentils is simple, inexpensive and delicious (and fairly healthy!).
Article Courtesy: Mary Fran Wiley, Even Curiouser
When Yum Universe (a blog I discovered when we were both featured on Refinery29 a couple weeks ago) announced their #YU30 Fall Plant-Based Diet Challenge, I decided to jump in. So, for the next 30 days, I am eating gluten, dairy and meat free. I am hoping this helps address some of the vitamin deficiencies that popped up in my last round of blood work. I am hoping that a diet with significantly less inflammatory foods helps reduce some of the CRPS pain. But most of all, I am hoping it helps break me of my junk food habit. I want cupcakes to be a treat again, not a three day a week habit.
So, let’s kick this off with one of my all time favorite vegan dishes: naturally gluten-free Mujaddara.
An easy to make weeknight dinner that makes great leftovers for work lunches, Mujaddara is the best kind of comfort food. The spices and flavors warm you up from the inside. Rice and lentils are inexpensive pantry staples. It doesn't require much babysitting on the stove. Plus, it's naturally gluten-free.
Mujaddara is an Arab dish, and it refers to rice and lentils cooked together and topped with sautéed or fried onions. The spices vary depending on who is cooking for you, but typical spices include cumin and coriander and you will often find it topped with yogurt.
Gluten-Free Mujaddara Recipe
Ingredients
- 120 grams green lentils (1 cup )
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ tablespoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 120 grams basmati rice (1 cup)
- 1½ cups water
- Sea Salt
- Oil for frying (vegetable, canola, safflower – whatever you have on hand is fine)
- 1 medium onion thinly sliced
Instructions
- Rinse the lentils in cold water and place in a medium sauce pan and cover with water and add a generous pinch of salt (like you would add for pasta). Bring the water to a boil, and then reduce it to a simmer for about 20 minutes. You want the lentils to be cooked, but still have a little bite.
- While the lentils cook, rinse and drain the rice.
- Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or other similar pan and add the spices. Cook them for about 30 seconds or so – you want them to become fragrant. Add the rice and stir to make sure it is coated in the spice mixture. Pour the water over the rice and stir. Turn the heat to low and cook, covered for 8 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let sit for 5 minutes – don’t take off the cover until after the 5 minutes are over. Fluff with a fork.
- While your rice and lentils are cooking, you are going to start frying your onions. In a small frying pan, add enough oil to fill the pan about ½. Get the oil good and hot (stick a bamboo skewer in it and if bubbles form rapidly around the base, you know your oil is hot enough), and fry the onions. You may need to do it in 2-3 batches, but each one only cooks for about 2 minutes. Set them on a plate covered in a paper towel to drain when they are done.
- When all of your components are cooked, add the lentils and half the fried onions to the rice. Add salt to taste.
- Serve with yogurt or cashew cream and top with the remaining fried onions.
Nutrition
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