Hildegarde's Lentil Pottage (A Civet)

Submitted by joancole

"This yummy peri-oid stew is very practical for camping, as spoilage of the ingredients is not such a worry. It started as a recipe for mjudra (mujaddara, also known as koshary and khichri. In fact, there is a recipe for khichri in Cariadoc's miscellany from Ain i Akbari, a 16th century book written during the reign of the Moghul emperor Akbar). Mjudra is an ancient middle eastern dish, and often said to be the recipe for Esau's "mess of pottage". As I make it, however, it is no longer appropriate for Moslems, due to the smoked sausage. If you omit the sausage, use a vegetarian broth instead of a chicken broth, and margarine instead of butter, this is an excellent vegan dish. When made for a camping event, the first two steps (onion/cabbage and lentils) can be done ahead of time and stored in the cooler. The soup can then be made on a camp stove or over the camp fire. With 3 smoked sausages, this can serve more than a dozen hearty eaters."

 

• Ready In: 1hr
• Ingredients: 13
• Serves: 8

ingredients

• Aromatic Base

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 cups sliced onions
• 1⁄4 head cabbage, shredded (or part of a bag)

• Lentils

• 5 cups water
• 2 cups lentils

• The rest of the soup

• 6 cups water
• 6 chicken bouillon cubes
• 1 cup rice (uncooked)
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1⁄2 teaspoon pepper

• Sausage grilled and added at end

• 1 smoked sausage

directions

1. In the dutch oven over a slow heat, heat butter and olive oil until butter melts. Add onion and cabbage and cook slowly about 20 minutes stirring occasionally. You want the onions browned (carmelizing but not burnt!). Set them aside.
2. At the same time, in another pot, bring water and lentils to boiling, cover and simmer about 20 minutes. Drain the lentils and set aside.
3. Put 6 cups water and the bouillon cubes inches Dump in the lentils and onions and cabbage, add rice and spices Cover and cook over slow fire until the rice has absorbed water and cooked.
4. Take the pot off the fire to cool a bit and grill the sausages. Cut them up into 1-1 1/2 inch slices and put them in the pottage as well.

Reviews

[Starrynews]

Tasty and filling pottage! We have enjoyed mjudra before, but I was intrigued by the addition of the cabbage and sausage. It was very good! Thanks for sharing! PAC Spring '13