Mama’s Mujaddarah salad

My mother is the lioness who disrupted the peaceful and routine ways of my father’s Syrian family. She cooks with such an unapologetic and playful approach to ingredients. We co-hosted a supperclub in Dubai earlier in the year. To my dismay and utter jealousy, the salad was the start of the dinner.

This recipe is a 2-in-1, you can prepare the Mujaddarrah a day in advance and enjoy it. The supersalad is a great way to repurpose leftover Mujaddarah.

Please note that the measurements below are only approximated. I rarely use tools and weights to measure, and have learnt through trial and error. I will however, say this. Lentils multiply in a way that’s explosive. I know this because, once a friend and I in university wanted to cook daal for 2. We assumed that that only meant that we would naturally need 2.5 cups of lentils. It didn’t. I took home a large tupperware of this delicious daal, and ate it for a week.

Please assume that the measurements below indicate feeding 1-2 people.

For Mujaddarah you’ll need:

1 cup Puy Lentils

1 Onion- chopped

2-3 cloves Garlic- chopped

1 cup Short grain Egyptian rice

3 pinches of Cumin

3 pinches of Seven spice

2 cups Meat or vegetable broth - this can be a cube dissolved in 2 cups of water

1 fist Crispy fried onions

Sauté garlic and onions in a pot with olive oil. Rinse lentils and add along with rice and spices to the pot. Essentially you want to coat and toast the mixture in the oil. Add vegetable or meat broth and cook until lentils and rice are soft but still have bite.

For the salad you’ll need:

2 cups Leftover Mujaddarah 

Pomegranates- unlimited if you’re like me and love pomegranates

1 bunch parsley- chopped

1 bunch scallions - chopped

1 bunch mint- chopped

2-3 Cucumbers - diced

2-3 Tomatoes - diced

1 Eggplant – Grilled and cut into slices

Dressing:

Lemon juice 

Salt and pepper to taste

Pomegranate molasses 

Olive oil 

There are no ratios for this- its up to you. 

Optional:

Zereshk berries sautéed in oil/butter- unlimited because I love them

Toasted pine nuts- unlimited because I love them

1 fist Crispy fried onions

1 fist dill- chopped

The idea is to turn your leftovers into a healthy refreshing salad packed with nutrients, but ultimately you can be very flexible about what you put into it.