Authentic Middle Eastern mujadara is my bowl of lentils and rice: naturally vegan and gluten-free, punctuated with Indian spices, laced throughout with bright green herbs and topped with crispy, browned onions. Comfort food at its purest!
How I Discovered Lentils
As I mentioned in the past, several kinds of vegetables were unwelcome in my house. Like orange vegetables, beans and lentils were also considered to be the foods of devil. They were deemed too fussy to prepare, and, frankly, entirely too flatulence-inducing for our family. I grew up thinking they were disgusting, and would have never dreamed of tasting a dahl, or even a bowl of chili.
Then, one cold autumn day in Grade 1, everyone in my homework club sat down to dinner. At the time, I felt mostly like a polite outsider, sitting beside Ethiopian and Moroccan children who spoke fluent Hebrew and seemed so comfortable in that small, crowded room.
I was one of a few Russian immigrants who stayed for language lessons in the evening, and who were graciously allowed to join the homework club kids for their meals.
For some of us, that was to be the only warm meal of the day.
Childhood Memories
That autumn evening, with our coats hanging messily off the hooks and the rain clattering against the window, I happily stood in a not-so-orderly line, anxious for my portion of food.
When my hands clasped that chipped, white ceramic bowl, and the steam enveloped my face, I couldn't wait to get back into my chair and sink my spoon into the warm food.
But when I saw the rice and brown lentils in my bowl, it was my heart that sank.
I was far too polite and anxious to say anything, so, fighting back tears, I closed my eyes and put a small spoonful of mujadara in my mouth… And was immediately transported by the flavour, texture and warmth of that bite.
The noises of the room faded away, and it was just me, alone with that spiced, comforting bowl of Middle Eastern mujadra (or majadra, or mujaddara - the spelling differs according to the different traditions that make this dish, which are a great many) - the Middle Eastern take on beans and rice.
What is Middle Eastern Mujadara?
Mujadara is a classic Arabic recipe of cooked lentils and rice, flavoured with herbs and caramelized onions. The meaning of 'mujadara' is "pockmarked" in Arabic, as the rice looks pockmarked, or "pimpled" by the lentils!
The origin of mujadara is often attributed to Lebanon, but the first Mujadara recipe actually appeared in an Iraqi cookbook in 1226 (I believe it's mostly attributed to Lebanon because Lebanese food has become synonymous with Arabic food in the United States).
As with many canonical dishes, today Mujadara recipes are so common throughout the Middle East, it's almost impossible to isolate it to one country. However, regional variations are a different story!
What is the Pronunciation of Mujadara?
Mujadara is pronounced /muˈdʒɑdəɹə/. Some pronounce it moo-zha-DAH-rah, which is derived from Turkish. In Arabic, it's most often pronounced as m'jaddara.
Why is Mujadara so Popular?
Middle Eastern Mujadara recipes are very common, and the dish is incredibly popular throughout the world. Mujadara is popular because it's:
- Affordable
- Filling
- Made of common, pantry ingredients
- Quick to make
- Requires little equipment
- Can be made on an open fire!
- Delicious
- Easily customizable
- A complete vegan meal
- Naturally gluten-free
- A great side dish
A family favorite one pot meal
Since that cold, rainy evening, I have made more than my fair share of lentils, beans, and orange veggies, served over rice. Fragrant with crispy caramelized onions, it's the ultimate one-pot-meal, pure comfort food.
And if you want to make lentils without them turning into a mushy mess, follow the steps in this how to make lentils guide! I used to ruin all my lentils, and this saves me every time.
This is my take on the Middle Eastern mujadara: punctuated with Indian spices, laced throughout with bright green herbs and topped with glistening, browned onions. If you want to serve it as a side, I enjoy serving it with my Middle Eastern inspired chicken marbello ottolenghi with medjool dates and sweet potatoes.
Ingredients for Middle Eastern Mujadara
- 1 cup of brown or green lentils
- 1.5 cups of rice
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 onions
- 2 tsps salt
- 4 tablespoon oil
- ½ bunch of chopped cilantro or parsley for serving (parsley is traditional, but I love the taste of cilantro)
How to make this Middle Eastern Mujadara recipe
If I planned well in advance, I like to soak my lentils in 4 cups of water for 20 minutes. If I am just winging it, that's fine too! The lentils don't have to soak and will just take a bit longer to cook from scratch.
Do the chopping: finely mince garlic. Dice 1 onion finely. Slice 1 onion into half-moons. Set aside.
Now, to give my Mujadara recipe the most flavour, I like to start the Indian way - by toasting my spices. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Add cumin, coriander, cinnamon and chili, if using, and toast lightly, for about a minute. Add diced onion and garlic to the spices, stir until coated, and saute until golden, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.
If lentils were soaking, drain the water. To the pot with onions and spices, add 1 cup of lentils and enough water to coat them, plus 1 more cup of water and 1 teaspoon of salt. Raise heat to medium-high and cook lentils for 20 minutes if the lentils were soaked (25-30 if they weren't soaked). Stop cooking when lentils are done - for mujadara, lentils should be cooked through but not mushy).
While lentils are cooking, rinse your rice 3-5 times in cold water, until water comes out clean. Let rice soak in 4 cups of water while lentils are cooking.
When lentils are cooked through but not mushy, add rice, 1 teaspoon of salt and 2 cups of water to the same pot (if using whole-grain rice, you'll want more water, about 2.5 cups). Cover with a lid, raise heat to medium high and bring to a boil.
Once water is boiling, lower heat to very low and let cook for about 25 minutes, until most of the water has evaporated and rice is cooked through. Fluff rice gently with a fork, cover with lid and let rest for another 10 minutes.
For the best flavour, it's time to crisp your onions! While rice is cooking, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan. When oil has heated through, add slivered onions. Let cook on low-medium heat until onions have browned and caramelised.
Chop cilantro or parsley finely.
When rice is cooked through, pour contents of pot into big serving platter. Mix rice and lentils gently. Top with chopped herbs and caramelized onions. Taste and adjust flavours - dish may need more salt, as for your liking.
Serve with more parsley or cilantro on the side, individual lemon wedges and, if you're eating dairy, yogurt or labaneh. It will be a magical dish!
My favourite Pots for Making Mujadara
I like to make it in a nice, big cast-iron dutch oven
, and eat it for days to come. Perhaps this bowl of rice and lentils will warm up your day as well. I am also planning on making mujadara in a tagine and an InstantPot!
For more rice-based dishes:
- Jeweled vegetarian rice plov
- Grilled scallops with lemon-mint Pinot Grigio sauce on crispy pea cakes
- Enchanted rice with grapes, feta and pistachios, or the taste of teenage love
What to serve with Middle Eastern Mujadara?
- paprika chicken
- Middle Eastern Roasted carrots
- How to Make the Ultimate Middle Eastern appetizer platter with our best mezze recipes
- Israeli chopped salad with feta, za'atar and sumac
For more vegan main dishes:
Recipe
Tried and loved this recipe? Please leave a 5-star review below! Your reviews mean a lot to me, so if you've got any questions, please let me know in a comment.
Middle Eastern mujadara
Ingredients
- 1 cup of brown or green lentils
- 1.5 cups of rice if using whole grain, adjust rice cooking time to longer, about 40-45 minutes, and you may need to double cumin and garlic as whole grain rice has a more pronounced taste
- 1 tablespoon cumin ground
- 1 tablespoon coriander ground
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon ground
- ½ teaspoon chili powder optional
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 onion chopped finely
- 2 tsps salt or more - to taste
- 4 tablespoon oil
- 1 onion sliced into half-moons (optional but highly recommended)
- ½ bunch of chopped cilantro or parsley for serving (parsley is traditional, but I love the taste of cilantro)
- Lemon wedges for serving
- Labaneh or Greek yogurt for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Rinse lentils and soak them in 4 cups of water for 20 minutes (If you don't have time to soak your lentils, that's ok - they'll just need longer to cook).
- Mince garlic finely. Chop onion finely.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Add cumin, coriander, cinnamon, garlic and chili, if using, and toast lightly, for about a minute. Add onions to the spices, stir until coated, and saute until golden, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.
- If lentils were soaking, drain the water. To the pot with onions and spices, add 1 cup of lentils and enough water to coat them, plus one more cup of water and 1 teaspoon of salt. Raise heat to medium-high and cook lentils for 20 minutes if the lentils were soaked (25-30 if they weren't soaked), testing for doneness (lentils should be cooked through but not mushy).
- While lentils are cooking, rinse your rice 3-5 times in cold water, until water comes out clean. Let rice soak in 4 cups of water while lentils are cooking.
- When lentils are cooked through but not mushy, to the same pot as the lentils add rice, 1 teaspoon of salt and 2 cups of water (if using whole-grain rice, you'll want more water, about 2.5 cups). Cover with a lid, raise heat to medium high and bring to a boil. Once water is boiling, lower heat to very low and let cook for about 25 minutes, until most of the water has evaporated and rice is cooked through. Fluff rice through gently with a fork, cover with lid and let rest for another 10 minutes.
- Optional: While rice is cooking, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan. When oil has heated through, add slivered onions. Let cook on low-medium heat until onions have browned and caramelised.
- Chop cilantro or parsley finely.
- When rice is cooked through, pour contents of pot into big serving platter. Mix rice and lentils gently. Top with chopped herbs and caramelized onions. Taste and adjust flavours - dish may need more salt, as for your liking.
- Serve with more herbs on the side, individual lemon wedges and, if you're eating dairy, labaneh. It will be a magical dish!
Faith (An Edible Mosaic) says
First of all, thank you so much for stopping by my blog...I'm happy you did because it led me to your lovely blog! Your recipes are beautiful, and you truly have a way with words.
And I love that you love Mujaddara. I think it's quite possible that it's the only dish (at least the only dish I can think of offhand) that everyone who has tried it not only loves, but has fond memories of when they first had it. For me, it was in my sister-in-law's tiny kitchen in Jordan. I was peering into a pot full of lentil-speckled rice with the aroma of fragrant caramelized onion wafting out, wondering what new exotic meal I was in store for that evening. It was love at first bite. 🙂
kseniaprints says
Thank you for the kind words, and for sharing your own memory! Your blog really is fantastic. It's also interesting that most cultures have their own version of mujadara, their own take on beans or lentils with rice. There must be something special about the combination.
Terry says
MMMMm,mmm....Looks and sounds so good I may have to give up my professed aversion to lentils...
kseniaprints says
You should come by and have a bowl!
Nanci says
While having middle eastern ancestory as well as a plethora of recipes from my great-grandma on down, I've never tried majadra. Out of all the ideas for this recipe on Pinterest, yours struck my heartstrings. Not only is the recipe simple as well as delicious, the story that went with it was beautifully written. I look forward to seeing more of what your blog has to offer.
kseniaprints says
Thank you, Nanci. I hope you give it a try, and perhaps find your own adaptation (different spices, herbs, etc). The beauty of majadra is that it's meant to be a poor person's dish, and perhaps that's why I connected with it so much when I was little.
Gabby says
I want to cook this for dinner tomorrow, but I had a question. Do you cook the rice in a separate pot or in the same pot with the lentils? It's not really clear in the instructions and I don't want to screw it up!
kseniaprints says
Same pot! It's a super-easy one-pot meal. Enjoy!
Svetlana says
The way you wrote this, it says that I should wait to add the rice when the lentils are cooked. If that is the case, won't the lentils over cook if I add rice at that point? Won't that make them mushy?
Please let me know.
Thank you.
kseniaprints says
Hello, if you make sure to add the rice when the lentils are just cooked and not mushy at all (they can even have a bit of bite left to them), it won't be a proble. I usually use French lentils for this, which hold their shape a bit better regardless (though it's fine w typical Indian lentils, easier to find in North America. You just have to go by the doneness). I'll amend the recipe to make sure that's clear, thanks for the question!
Bethany says
so I made this yesterday. The only thing I did slightly different was to use half brown rice, half black rice. My dish came out very bland, not much flavor at all. It's disappointing because I'm one who hates to waste, but I honestly don't think I will eat it. I will give it another go though, using the same amount of spices, with half the rice and half the lentils. Maybe it will come out better that way.
kseniaprints says
So I had started typing up a response, then I looked at the recipe again, and saw that I left out the salt in the ingredients! Did you use it as the recipe instructions stated? Because that could be why. I'm going to remedy that right away. Also, did you use the onion for the topping?
I'm like you - I hate throwing out food. If what you've made tastes a bit bland, do the following: place 1 Tb of oil in a pan on medium, and when it's hot, add another TB of cumin, 1/2 TB of coriander, and 1/2 tsp chili, and let saute for a minute, stirring often. Chop 2 cloves of garlic, and add to pan. Let saute for another minute, and then add 1 tsp of salt. Take this paste, and mix it well into your mujadara. That should fix the problem - let me know how it goes.
Also, when I made it for the blog, I used white basmati rice. Black and brown rice definitely take in less flavour because their own flavour is so pronounced - perhaps that's part of the reason? I also try to be fairly conservative in the spice quantities I use for blog recipes. Looking back at the recipe, you could also double the cumin and garlic quantities, but I wouldn't double the coriander or chilli - this dish isn't meant to be spicy.
Hope this helps!
Bethany says
Hi! Thanks for the reply. I had used salt as written in the instructions. I did go back and fry(?) up the additional spice mixture as you suggested and it did help. I'm brand new to Indian cooking, so frying up dried spices is a little nerve wracking, lol. And yes, the onions are a must. I will be making this again with the spices doubled (or more) because I'd like to see how it comes out. Oh, also, when cooking up the extra spices I got a little overzealous and added in a good amount of curry powder. Don't know if I shouldve. Next go I will leave it out and more than likely triple the seasonings. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm committing myself to a big pot of rice and beans a week so it would be nice to have this in the rotation. Well, this is technically the only thing in rotation as of yet- it's a new thing I'm doing. I kinda got turned off of meat so I need a protein alternative and rice and beans fit the bill. Now I'm rambling. Thanks, I'll let you know next time I make it. This weekend id guess.
kseniaprints says
Curry isn't a traditional Middle Eastern spice, but I don't see why it wouldn't work with lentils and rice! Good luck with the rice and beans habit. It's not easy making the transition from meat to vegetarianism, even if it's just mostly vegetarianism, and I couldn't be happier for you for trying. In winter, we often make a big pot of chilli and serve that with whole grain rice and fresh spinach, for protein, greens, and some different textures all at once. I also make lentils in a very simple way that works for quick protein fixes (with carbs, of course, because otherwise they're not a complete protein): I toast some spices like I suggested in the previous comment (what I use usually varies on the cumin-cinnamon-coriander-fenugreek-paprika scale, but I save curry powder to the end), then add onion, toss to coat, let all that cook for 10 minutes and then add garlic. After a couple of minutes I add the lentils, enough water to cover +an inch, cover with a lid, bring to a boil, and then let it simmer on med heat until the lentils are soft enough to my liking, which can vary based on whatever type of lentils I'm using. You can also add chopped tomatoes to this, or sprinkle with nuts at the end. And voila, this usually takes less than 30 mins and it's dead delicious (I'll probably post this in a post at some point).
Aletha says
Had I known how easy this is to make at home, I would have tried this ages ago! Really hit the spot, thank you!
Also I did this a little differently as I had already made rice in a rice cooker, so I did not combine the rice and lentils until on my plate. Still super awesome!
kseniaprints says
Heh, I cook them in one pot because I'm lazy, and it saves dishes 🙂 I'm sure it was just fine as rice topped with lentils. Glad it worked for you!!
Rebecca says
You don't specify whether the spices should be ground or whole. I hope its ground since that's what I just used. I'm in the midst of making this right now!
kseniaprints says
You're absolutely right, Rebecca! I'll fix this omission right now, but yes, they should be ground. Hope it works for you!
Rebecca M. says
I made this dish this past weekend and mmmmmm! You're definitely right about needing to double the spices when using brown rice - I was initially skeptical and didn't, then ended up pouring in more cumin, coriander, etc. towards the end!
Question for you, though: how do you pronounce "mujadara"? I brought it to work today and, upon receiving a compliment from a co-worker on how wonderfully aromatic it smelled, realized that I had no idea how to pronounce the dish's name. So instead, I (shame-facedly) gave a quick summary of what was in the recipe.
Thank you so much for the recipe and for your story!
kseniaprints says
Rebecca, I am so glad you liked it! And yes, the brown rice really has an assertive flavour by itself, so it just needs more of everything. It took me a while to understand that when adapting recipes to use brown rice - things would just come out bland for the longest time!
As for the pronunciation, in Israel we pronounce it moo-juh-d-ruh (without pulling the vowels so long, of course; this is just for emphasizing the sounds). But in Arabic it's more like moo-j'duh-ruh. Does that make sense? Haha, I definitely don't know how to write phonetics! Google doesn't even seems to be that helpful in this regard.
Peter says
I almost forgot one of the most important ingredients, serve with a wedge of fresh lemon or lemon juice.. so basically you have the bowl of mujadara, then on top layer the caramelised onions (caramelise them with cumin seeds or ground cumin), then the labneh or yoghurt, then fresh parsley & finish with lemon juice.. no need to go overboard with spices, if you serve like this it will taste amazing every time with the recommended amount of spices!
kseniaprints says
<3