Middle Eastern Rice (Mejadra)

Name: Middle Eastern Rice (Mejadra)
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Ingredients: 2 tbsp olive oil; 2 tsp cumin seeds (or 1 tsp ground cumin); 1 1/2 tbsp coriander seeds (or 1 1/2 tsp ground coriander); 1 cup basmati or long grain rice (, uncooked); 1 1/4 cup / 315 ml water ((see notes)); 400g / 14 oz canned brown lentils, drained (1 can) (, drained ); 1/2 tsp ground turmeric; 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon; 1 tsp sugar; 1 tsp salt; Black pepper; 3 large or 4 small onions (, very finely sliced); 1 cup / 250 ml vegetable or sunflower oil; Salt

Instructions

Prep:5minCook:15min

Mejadra is a fragrant Middle Eastern rice pilaf with crunchy fried onion throughout it. This is slightly adapted from a Yotam Ottolenghi recipe, from his wonderful cookbook Jerusalem. The main difference is that he uses dried lentils, I use canned. If you don't have time or don't want to deep fry, substitute the fried onions with Asian fried shallots, available from Asian stores and the Asian section of major supermarkets in Australia (Coles, Woolies). The taste is remarkably similar!

Updated at: Wed, 26 Mar 2025 14:55:38 GMT