Kusherie

This is an Egyptian rice and lentil recipe. I've adapted it from Recipezaar (#134402). It sounds really weird, but tasted really good. It was fun to have something different, and for once, it was something other than soup. Apparently it is pretty close to an actual Egyptian dish, except they sometimes include macaroni pasta in the pot along with the lentils and rice. Sometimes garbanzo beans are included, too!


Kusherie (there are three parts to this recipe, but it doesn't take long)

Lentils and Rice:
1 1/4 cups of lentils
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 cups of boiling water (I just used hot tap water)
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups of rice
1 more cup of boiling water

Put the lentils and oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Stir them around every once in awhile, but be careful! Super-hot lentil beans sometimes shoot out of the pot at you! After about 5 minutes of this nonsense, add the 3 cups of hot water to the pot and let things boil for 10 minutes. Add the salt, rice, and the rest of the hot water. Put a lid on it and let it simmer for 25- 30 minutes. While that is happening, make the sauce:

Sauce:
1 tiny can of tomato paste
2 cans of diced tomatoes (blend in the blender)
1/2 cup of celery leaves (chopped - I didn't know these had a use!)
1 tablespoon of suger
2 teaspoons cumin
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Mix all of these things together in another pot. I know... it means another dirty dish. This recipe creates three dirty pots! I usually try to avoid that, but, alas. As I was saying, mix all the sauce ingredients together in a pot. Put a lid on it, and let it simmer while you wait for the lentils and rice to cook. Meanwhile...

Onion Topping
1 onion (diced)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 garlic cloves (minced)

Put these 3 things into a pan, stir them around a bit, eventually the onions will brown. Perfect!

When everything is ready, put a pile of the lentil/rice mixture on a plate. Top it with the sauce, and some of the onion topping. Enjoy!