Middle Easterners can give Italians a run for their money when it comes to comfort food, with endless bowls of warming dips, mouthwatering flatbreads and wonderful stews. Today’s recipe, mujadara, is one of my desert-island dishes: a resplendent pile of steaming rice and tender lentils topped with crisp, caramelised onions. The core ingredients may be humble, but the combination is pure luxury, especially when dressed with creamy yoghurt and sweet pomegranate. Add spiced chicken livers to the mix, and you have a quick meal that’s fit for a king.
Mujadara with spiced chicken livers
The flavours here are sweet and nuanced but if you love heat you can sprinkle the finished dish with Turkish chilli or the spicier cayenne.
Prep 10-15 min
Cook 45 min
Serves 4-6
200g brown lentils
20g butter
2 tbsp olive oil
2 large red onions, peeled and finely sliced
Salt and black pepper
200g basmati rice, washed
1 cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
For the livers
600g chicken livers, trimmed, pieces kept as large as possible
1 ½ tsp cumin seeds, ground
2-3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp smoked paprika
30g butter
2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
4 tbsp Greek yoghurt, to serve
Seeds from ½ pomegranate, to serve
Make the mujadara first. Rinse the lentils in cold water, empty into a pan, cover with water, bring to a boil and simmer for about 15 minutes, until tender but still keeping their shape. Drain and set aside.
Meanwhile, melt the butter with the oil in a large, deep pan over a medium heat. Add the onions, season generously and cook, stirring often, for 20-25 minutes, until they turn golden and are starting to crisp up. Scoop out half the onions, then turn up the heat and cook the rest until dark golden and crisp at the edges. Transfer these to a bowl, then put the onions you took out earlier back in the pan with the rice, cinnamon, lentils, bay leaf and half a teaspoon of sea salt. Add 700ml boiling water, cover and leave to simmer for 15 minutes, until the rice is just cooked. Check and adjust the seasoning, then cover the rice.
Put a large, heavy-based frying pan on a medium-high heat. Season the livers with salt, pepper and cumin. Once the pan is smoking hot, add a tablespoon of oil and fry a third to half the livers (the amount will depend on the size of your pan) for a minute on each side, until golden brown and firm to the touch. Transfer to a plate and repeat with the remaining livers in one or two more batches. Once all the livers are browned, return them to the pan and add the paprika, butter and molasses. Stir to coat and, once the butter has melted and emulsified into a silky sauce, turn off the heat.
Spoon the rice and lentil mix into bowls, and top with the livers and sauce. Add a dollop of yoghurt, sprinkle over the golden onions and pomegranate seeds, and serve.
And for the rest of the week…
If you have any leftover pomegranates, juice them and turn the results into pomegranate molasses, pomegranate ice-cream (surprisingly good) or just keep the seeds for breakfast – I love them on yoghurt and granola. Once cooked, the lentils keep for a few days: reheat in a frying pan, so you get lovely, golden, crunchy bits on the base of the pan, then pair with a crisp chicory salad.
- Food styling: Amy Stephenson
