Mujaddara

Serves: 5
1 cup lentils, rinsed
5 cups water
1/4 cup rice, rinsed
4 TB butter
3 medium onions, chopped
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp chili powder

● Place lentils and water in a saucepan, then bring to a boil. Cover, then cook over medium heat for 15 minutes or until lentils are half cooked. Add rice, and then bring to a boil.
● Reduce the heat to low, then cook for further 20 minutes or until both lentils and rice are tender but sill intact and slightly firm, adding more water if necessary.
● In the meantime, melt butter in a frying pan, and then sauté onions until they turn golden brown.
● Stir into the frying pan the remaining ingredients. Then add into the saucepan, then stir and cook for a further three minutes. Serve hot.
In the Bible, Esau sold his birthright to his twin brother Jacob for a bowl of pottage, believed to be Mujaddara.