Mejadra is a fragrant and comforting mix of rice, lentils, spices and crispy onions. Enjoy it hot or cold as a delicious side dish.
Mejadra is a simple rice and lentil dish, which was very popular when I lived in Israel some years ago. Friends would often make it as part of a Shabbat menu – served hot at dinner on Friday night, or cold as part of a Shabbat lunch. It’s tasty but not overpowering, so it goes well with all sorts of other dishes. It’s no surprise that such a yummy, versatile dish caught on!
History of Mejadra
Mejadra – also called mujaddara, majadra,moujadara, mudardara, and megadarra – is a popular dish across the Middle East and around the Mediterranean. The earliest known mejadra recipe dates to 1226, in Kitab al-Tabikh, an Arabic cookbook from Baghdad. However the dish may be even older and is suspected to originate in either Persia or India, where similar dishes are still made.
Variations on mejadra seem to crop up in local cuisines across the Middle East. Different types of lentils can be used, and the rice may be replaced by bulgur wheat or other grains. Some mejadra recipes use mung beans or chickpeas. However the fried onions and gentle spices seem ubiquitous.
Mejadra is delicious, inexpensive, and complements a wide range of other dishes. It was commonly eaten by Middle Eastern Jews on Thursday evenings or Sundays – before or after Shabbat when the person in charge of cooking wanted something easy to make! Personally, I often serve this as part of a Shabbat meal, as while it may be simple, it’s certainly a delicious, healthy and enjoyable dish.
Blending recipes
I found a version of the dish in Jerusalem
by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. This wonderful recipe book is full of delicious ideas and marvellous photographs. I adapted their spice blend, but in the end I made this mejadra mostly from memory, and with a few new cheats thrown in – ready-cooked lentils made the cooking time much shorter!
If you need to cook the lentils from scratch before starting to make your mejadra, it will add about 30 minutes to the cooking time.
Ingredients in mejadra
This mejadra recipe requires only a few basic store-cupboard ingredients. To make some yourself, you will need:
- A large onion – or a couple of smaller ones
- A generous amount of olive oil – this adds both flavour and texture to the dish
- Spices – I used both whole cumin seeds and coriander seeds, as well as ground cumin, ground coriander, turmeric, allspice and cinnamon
- Pre-cooked small green or brown lentils – you can cook them yourself or take a short cut and use a tin or pouch of ready cooked lentils
- Basmati rice – I prefer brown but either brown or white is fine
- Salt and pepper to season
Rave reviews
My daughter Kipper was very enthusiastic about this mejadra, and even ate seconds! She was particularly keen on the crispy onion bits. Even DH gave it good reviews, and I suspect that bowls of brown rice and lentils are the sort of vegetarian dish he dreads me making.
Perhaps it’s the copious volume of olive oil, or maybe the lavish amount of spices, but there’s nothing about this mejadra that tastes ‘worthy’ – it’s rich, satisfying and delicious all the way through.
What to serve with mejadra
We ate this as a warm side dish with some seared tuna and fine beans from the garden. It made a delicious al fresco summer dinner.
It’s also great with grilled fish, vegetables or halloumi, and crisp fresh salads, as a light lunch. And it’s wonderful topped with a fried egg for a quick supper.
You can also serve mejadra cold, as a sort of spicy rice salad. It goes anywhere that a delicious grainy salad is welcome! You might like to serve it with a dollop of natural yogurt or some crumbled feta if you’re offering it cold.
Mejadra – a family favourite
There’s a good reason I’m still making and eating this so many years after discovering it! I hope you enjoy your mejadra as much as my family and I do!
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📖 Recipe
Mejadra – Middle Eastern rice & lentils
Ingredients
- 1 large onion
- 4-5 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 250 g pre-cooked small green or brown lentils
- 100 g basmati rice – I prefer brown but either is fine
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Peel and thinly slice the onion, then fry over a medium high heat in 3-4 tablespoon of the olive oil, until very brown and slightly crispy, about 10-15 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Return the pan to a low heat, add the remaining tablespoon of oil, and fry the spices for 1-2 minutes until fragrant, stirring constantly and taking care not to let them burn.
- Add the cooked lentils and the rice, and 250ml (1 cup + 2 tbsp) water. Cover with a tight fitting lid and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat.
- Remove the lid from the pan, place a clean tea towel over the pan, and replace the lid tightly. Leave the pan to stand for 10 minutes while the rice and lentils finish cooking in the steam.
- Stir in half the fried onions and mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve topped with the remaining fried onions.
Notes
Nutrition
More tasty rice recipes
If you’d like more rice-based recipes, how about
- simple all-in-one-pan roasted vegetable rice pilaf
- glorious fragrant beetroot risotto with herby feta
- delicious Iraqi tebit-inspired rice
- easy smoked mackerel kedgeree
We ate this in the garden, so I hope it qualifies for July’s Four Seasons Food challenge, (hosted by Delicieux and Eat Your Veg) which is on the theme of Al Fresco Food. Since it’s also generously seasoned with lovely spices, I’m entering it into The Spice Trail – Summer Spice challenge, hosted by Vanesther at Bangers & Mash.
FFF
Thanks Vanesther. I think it’s the steaming step that helps everything to be fluffy and separate. Hope it goes down well with your family 🙂
Vanesther
I love a good mejadra but the last time I cooked it, mine came out all claggy. Tasted good but didn’t look appealing and the children were not impressed. Yours on the other hand looks absolutely delicious and those wonderfully caramelised fried onions looks just so tempting. Definitely bookmarking so I can try out my lot very soon. Thanks so much for linking it up with this month’s #TheSpiceTrail challenge 🙂