It’s a starch on a starch with lentils and onions. Mixed grain dishes were a good offering to agricultural fertility deities such as Dagon, as well as good ways to use up leftovers that wouldn’t make a full meal by themselves. It also comes out pretty tasty. This is a fast, light, and tasty dish that really makes use of caramelization to enhance the flavor of otherwise plain ingredients.
Lentils are a local crop in Africa and the Mediterranean parts of Asia, so they are common in offering foods here, but you can use different ingredients for your local or ancestral deities. Almost any kind of bean/pulse will work, as well as corn or dried berries or seeds.
Equipment
- sautage, looks like a very deep frying pan with a lid
Ingredients
- 2 cup long grain rice (Persian is best, but basmati or parboiled rice will do as well)
- 1.5 cup short vermicelli (you can also break up thin spaghetti if you can’t find short vermicelli)
- 2 onions (medium to large)
- 1 cup cooked brown lentils (you can also use a half cup of red lentils that will cook in time with the rice)
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 teaspoon chicken soup mix (best is Mivina)
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- .5 teaspoon garlic powder
- .5 teaspoon sweet paprika
- .5 teaspoon tumeric
- .25 teaspoon black pepper
- 5 cup water (you may need a little more later, but start with this)
Serves: 6 | Preparation: 5 min | Cooking: 20 min | Ready in: 30 min
Instructions
- (Optional, clean the rice and leave it in a shallow pan to air dry. This isn’t always necessary unless you got the rice from an open air bin or it looks or smells dirty. Most rice is clean enough that frying it will burn off anything harmful.)
- Chop the onions somewhat finely, and fry them in the butter and olive oil until they start to be a little clear.
- Add the rice and vermicelli, and stir fry until most of the vermicelli is a bit golden.
- Add the seasonings and lentils, and stir fry another minute.
- Add the water. It should be enough to cover plus a centimeter.
- Stir briefly to make sure the rice mixture is fairly even around your pan, and bring to a boil.
- Cover, and turn the heat to low, and cook for 15 to 20 minutes. You may need to check after about 10 minutes to see if any water needs to be added.
- Gently fluff the mejadera-roni to distribute the ingredients evenly. Don’t overdo this.
- Turn the heat up, and let the bottom fry for about a minute or 2 to make a crispy bottom.
- Cover, and remove from the heat, and let it settle for 5 minutes.
Notes
Serve this warm. It is a good main dish in spring and summer and side dish in winter. If serving to Dagon, hot or cold is not as important as having it on a beautiful plate, preferably with a sea or spring decoration. It is good to offer this as the bed for some steamed or fried fish.
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