Sometimes you just don’t hit it on the first try of something. That’s exactly what happened with this recipe from the cookbook, Jerusalem, which, by the way, I love! What happened was that the basmati rice with the lentils was just too gummy, so I knew exactly what I was going to do!

I decided to immediately redo the recipe because even with the pasty gumminess, the flavors were fabulous. I’d had a similar experience when learning to make biryani, which took about five attempts before I finally got it right. So, I decided to implement similar techniques with this ‘Mejadra’, and it worked! I took the Mejadra to a small dinner party (just 4 of us), and it was totally gone by the end of the dinner!

Mejadra, popular throughout the Middle East, has a brillance of flavors and aromas. The sweet fried onions perched on top with the crumbles of crunch just add a magnificent surprise for the palate. Then the spices are virtually intoxicating as you inhale whiffs with each bite. The original recipe called for green or brown lentils, but I used red. I also revised the way it’s cooked, I think making it easier and, for me, it assured a better outcome.

