Mejadra: Lentil and Rice with Crispy Onion

Rinse the lentils and place them in a saucepan with cold water to cover generously. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a steady simmer and cook until the lentils reach 70 per cent doneness — they yield to pressure but hold a distinct firmness at the centre — because they will continue to cook with the rice, and any softness now means they will collapse into mush by the time the grains are done. Drain, reserving the cooking liquid.

Heat the oil in a wide, heavy frying pan over medium-high heat, add the sliced onions, and cook, stirring constantly, driving them past golden, past amber, towards deep mahogany with darkened edges, so their water is fully driven off and their sugars concentrate into that bitter-sweet depth that defines the dish. Scatter the ground cumin over the onions at this stage so its fragrance blooms in the hot oil rather than sitting raw on the finished rice. This is where the dish lives or dies: the colour must reach that deep mahogany edge without crossing into acrid char — the margin is thirty seconds at this heat — so remove the pan from the heat the instant that depth is achieved, and do not drain the oil, as it carries all the caramelised flavour and will season the grain below.

Return the par-cooked lentils to the saucepan, add the rice and enough of the reserved lentil cooking liquid (or water) to cover by approximately 2 cm, so the starch released during par-cooking returns to the pot and enriches the finished texture. Bring to the boil, then reduce to the lowest possible heat, cover tightly, and cook by absorption until the rice is fully tender, no liquid remains, and the surface shows small, dry craters with distinct, separate grains.

Pour the fried onions and all their oil over the lentil-rice base and fold together with restraint — two or three turns only — so the onion keeps some of its crispness rather than being worked into a paste. The finished dish should carry the bitter, sweet fragrance of deeply caramelised onion throughout. Serve immediately, with plain yogurt alongside.