Servings: roughly 8
Serving Size: 1/2 cup
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time (with pressure cooker): 50 minutes
Cook Time (without pressure cooker): 65-80 minutes
Ingredients:
2 large yellow onions
1 cup of uncooked brown lentils
½ cup of Baldo rice. If you cannot find Baldo rice, try to get long-grain Carolina rice. Do not use really hard rice such as Uncle Ben's brand.
3 tablespoons of olive oil
4 tablespoons of canola/vegetable oil
5 cups of water
Spices: Aleppo pepper, cumin, paprika, fresh black pepper, and salt (to taste--will use small amounts)
Total price for buying ingredients from scratch: $14.22
Cost of recipe: $2.28
Cost per serving: $0.29
Note: The high initial cost of this recipe results from purchasing a new bottle of olive oil.
Instructions:
*This was done using an old style pressure cooker, newer styles will have different instructions.
Dice 1 yellow onion into squares.
On medium heat, sauté the onion on the bottom of a pressure cooker with olive oil, a pinch of salt, and a few grinds of fresh black pepper.
Constantly toss the diced onion and cook until soft. You do not want the onions to brown.
Add seasoning: Put about a teaspoon of Aleppo red pepper. If you do not have it, use cayenne or a hot Hungarian paprika-- do this to taste.
Rinse 1 cup of uncooked brown lentils and toss them into the pressure cooker with the olive oil and onion mixture.
Add about a teaspoon of cumin. Stir.
Put 1/2 cup of uncooked rice into the pressure cooker with the rest of the mixture. Stir.
Pour 5 cups of water into the pressure cooker.
Stir and let it come to a light boil.
Optional: at this point you could add a chicken bouillon cube for added flavor.
Lock the lid on the pressure cooker and bring to a high heat. Allow pressure to build.
When there is enough pressure, place the safety valve on the nozzle and reduce to low/medium heat. Cook for 25-30 minutes. (If using a regular pot, cook for 45 minutes)
When time is up, take a bite to see if the rice and lentils are soft. If there is a lot of water left, boil it some more. This can be done with the lid off.
Add more seasoning to taste.
Loosely put the lid back on and allow the contents of the pressure cooker to cool slightly.
Once it is cool enough for you to place your hand in the pressure cooker, whisk all of the content by hand until everything is homogeneous.
Topping Instructions
To conserve time, make the onion topping while your pressure cooker is building pressure.
Slice one yellow onion into thin slivers and separate the layers.
Heat vegetable oil on a skillet.
Once the oil is hot, place the onion slivers in the pan. To ensure even cooking, try not to overlap the onions.
Brown/pyrolyze the onions. Cook until they are almost burnt.
Remove the onions and place them on a plate lined with paper towel to absorb excess oil.
Spoon into a deep rimmed serving dish and place the fried onions on top. You must use something with edges to keep everything contained.
Notes:
This dish is good at any temperature: hot, cold, room-temperature.
The fried onions go on top when you are ready to serve. Do not put them on the dish and then stick it in the refrigerator--the onions will fall apart and lose their crunch.
Refrigerate leftovers (with onions separate). Keep in mind that water will separate and come to the top. Just stir this in before eating again.
Footprinting:
Carbon Footprint of Recipe: 1.52kg (3.35 lb) CO2e
Carbon Footprint Per Serving: 190g (0.42 lb) CO2e
Water Footprint of Recipe: 538.5 gallons
Water Footprint Per Serving: 67.3 gallons