Kusherie (Egyptian Rice and Lentils)

Kaarin's Note:

Easy to make, despite the recipe length, and high in protein. In Egypt this is served with plain yogurt as a side dish. From Mennonite cookbook More-With-Less.

• Total Time: 45 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 35 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

Rice and Lentils

• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 ¼ cups lentils
• 3 cups boiling water (or stock)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 dash pepper
• 1 ½ cups rice
• 1 cup boiling water (or stock)

Sauce

• ¾ cup tomato paste
• 3 cups tomato juice (or tomato sauce or pureed tomatoes)
• 1 green pepper , chopped
• ½ cup celery leaves , chopped
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (or crushed chilis to taste)

Browned Onions

• 2 tablespoons oil
• 3 onions , sliced
• 4 garlic cloves , minced

Directions:

1. In a large heavy saucepan over medium heat, brown lentils in 2 Tbsp oil, about 5 minutes, stirring often.
2. Add the 3 cups boiling stock and the salt and pepper.
3. Cook uncovered 10 minutes over medium heat.
4. Stir in the rice and 1 cup stock.
5. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 25 minutes without stirring.
6. Meanwhile make sauce: Heat all the sauce ingredients together in a medium saucepan.
7. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 20-30 minutes.
8. To make browned onions, heat oil in a small skillet.
9. Saute onions and garlic over medium heat till browned.
10. To serve, put rice lentil mixture on a platter, pour tomato sauce over and top with browned onions.

Reviews

[Chef Mom 5]

We love this recipe! We've been making it for 25 years and it's still one of my favorites. Glad to see it on food.com.

[appleydapply]

I found this in my more-with-less cookbook when looking for ways to use up a huge sack of lentils. I was amazed at how flavorful this dish is, even though I left out the green pepper for personal preference. The lentil/rice mix didn't have much flavor, but it was wonderful topped with the spicy sauce and the almost-caramelized onions. A great, economical, vegan meal. (and we are meat-lovers in my family!)

[Maureenie]

The flavors of this dish are amazing and just explode in your mouth when you put it all together! Let the pan cool a bit before adding the water. Like one of the other posters, I had a lentil malfunction! Great recipe, thanks for sharing this, Kaarin!