Lentils with rice: recipes and cooking features

This dish is popular in both Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine. It is being prepared both in the Caucasus and in the Arab countries. Lentils with rice and fried onions act as an independent dish, but can also be served with a side dish for meat, fish or poultry. About how to cook such a dish, we will tell in our article. We’ll offer you several photos and recipes of lentils with rice with a step-by-step description.

Features of preparation and recommendations

The following secrets will help make a rice dish with lentils truly tasty and healthy.

1. When cooking, it is recommended to use green lentils. It has a dense structure, does not boil, retaining its shape, and goes well with long-grain rice in a dish. Red lentils do not have an outer shell, therefore, boil very quickly. It is more suitable for making cream soup or mashed potatoes.
2. To prepare the dish faster, it is recommended to pre-soak the lentils for at least 15 minutes, and preferably at night. Then it can be cooked in 1-1.5 hours.
3. Spices will help to improve the taste of dishes. The main ingredients are curry, paprika, chili and other spices.

Armenian lentil with rice recipe

The dish presented below is popular not only in the South Caucasus, but also in Greece. Traditionally, it is prepared from green lentils, which do not boil like red, but retain their shape well. The dish has an interesting taste with a piquant zest due to the addition of caraway seeds. Well, the benefits of lentils to the body are not in doubt. Serve the dish separately or with meat.

The recipe for lentils with rice in Armenian is as follows:

1. Cooking begins with steeping the beans. Green lentils (1 tbsp.) Are sorted, washed and poured with cold water for 30 minutes.
2. After half an hour, pour lentils with clean, cold water. The pan is put on medium heat, brought to a boil, after which the heat is reduced and the porridge is cooked until cooked. At the very end, salt is added. Ready lentils are thrown into a colander.
3. Rice (1 tbsp.) Is washed under running water, pour boiling water (2 tbsp.), Salt and add caraway seeds. Cereal is cooked over low heat until cooked.
4. In a frying pan, heat olive oil, spread onion chopped in half rings (2-3 pcs.) And fry it until golden brown. When the onion becomes soft, it is salted, seasoned with pepper and tomato paste (1 tbsp. L.) Is added.
5. Lentils are mixed with rice, seasoned with olive oil and sprinkled with fried onions. Serve a dish with finely chopped cilantro or parsley.

Lentils with vegetables and rice

The next dish is a hearty, but at the same time light meal, which is perfect for vegetarian cuisine or for fasting. According to this recipe, lentils with rice are cooked in the following sequence:

1. Soak basmati rice (250 g) in cold water.
2. Rinse the lentils, add cold water, add 2 cloves of garlic, salt and cook until soft. She should not boil.
3. Cut potatoes (2 pcs.) Into cubes and deep-fry. Put it on a paper towel to absorb excess oil.
4. Dice onions and carrots and fry directly in a pan with a thick bottom, pouring olive oil (20 ml) into it.
5. Put potatoes on top of a vegetable fry, then a layer of lentils. Spread washed rice on top. Salt the dish and fill it with water above the rice to the thickness of a finger. Cover the pan and cook the rice with lentils for 15 minutes over low heat. Stir before serving.

How to cook lentils with mushrooms and rice?

The following recipe will help delight your loved ones with an interesting and tasty dish. How to cook rice with lentils can be found in the instructions.

1. Soak a glass of green lentils for 1 hour.
2. Grind onions in half rings, cut carrots into thin cubes, and divide the mushrooms with a knife into 4 parts.
3. In a cauldron, fry the onions in vegetable oil until translucent. Add carrots, 3 cloves of finely chopped garlic, and after 2 minutes - mushrooms. Cook for about 5 minutes.
4. Introduce the spices. Add turmeric and zira (1 tsp each), salt to taste.
5. Rice and lentils, rinse, pour into a cauldron and level with an even layer.
6. Pour the contents of the cauldron with tomato juice (3 tbsp.). It should be 2 cm higher than rice with lentils. Cook under the lid for 30 minutes.

Lentils with Chicken and Rice

The dish prepared according to the following recipe is hearty, aromatic and tasty. This is a great option for lunch or dinner. And it’s not difficult to cook it.

1. Rinse the lentils (1/2 tbsp.) And cook until cooked for 15 minutes, then drop them into a colander.
2. Fry chicken breast (500 g) in a frying pan in refined oil. As soon as the surface of the bird becomes rosy, add onions and chopped carrots. Mix.
3. Add black pepper (1/2 tsp), salt (2 tsp) and cinnamon (1 tsp) to the pan to the chicken and vegetables.
4. Pour washed rice (2 tbsp.) And pour it with water (4 tbsp.).
5. Add the lentils by first folding them into a colander. Cover the pan.
6. According to the recipe, cook lentils with rice until the water boils and all the ingredients are soft. Serve with finely chopped cilantro.

Lentil recipe with rice in a slow cooker

In this recipe, a harmonious combination of products is selected. Loose rice, delicious lentils, piquant Adyghe cheese - even a true gourmet will not refuse such a dish. When cooking in a slow cooker, you must follow the following step-by-step instructions:

1. Select the program "Frying" or "Baking".
2. Pour a little vegetable oil into the multicooker bowl and fry on it coarsely grated carrots for 10 minutes, as well as onions and potatoes (2 pcs.), Crushed in a cube.
3. Add Adyghe cheese, cut into small pieces (150 g). Mix.
4. Add washed lentils and rice (1 tbsp each).
5. Pour the contents of the bowl with hot water (2.5 tbsp.). Add curry (0.5 tsp), a pinch of asafoetida, salt and pepper. Shuffle again.
6. Cook rice with lentils according to the recipe for a slow cooker for 50 minutes. Mode select "Pilaf" or "Rice".