Egyptianfood: Mujaddara with Egyptian Tomato Sauce

I decided that since it was Ramadan, that I would make something fitting to break my fast with as a kind of acknowledgement. No, I didn't wait until the sun set, but it was still a delicious way to do it. The dish I chose is called mujaddara, and it's a combination of lentils and rice, served with carmelized onions. After looking around on the internet, it's apparently popular to serve an Egyptian-style tomato sauce with it, so I cooked that up to. I've got to say, for something so simple, it was delicious. Arabic home cooking maybe?

Mujaddara

Adapted from egyptianfood.org

7 to 8 tablespoons olive oil

2 medium onions, sliced into rings

1 medium onion, chopped

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground allspice

1 cup dried green lentils

4 cups water
1 cup Basmati rice
3 teaspoons salt (to taste)

Egyptian Tomato Sauce

In a 12-inch frying pan, sauté onion rings in olive oil until they are soft and caramelized. Set aside.

In medium Dutch oven, fry chopped onion over medium heat in olive oil until soft and brown. Add cinnamon and allspice and let warm for one minute. Add lentils and water and bring to boil. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add rice and salt. Bring back to a boil and reduce heat to lowest simmer. Simmer, covered, for 15 to 20 minutes. Make sure to check rice towards the end of the cooking time to ensure it doesn't burn on the bottom of the pot.

Serve rice and lentils with sauce on top. Garnish with caramelized onions.

Egyptian Tomato Sauce
From Chef Zermane Dit Zermaki on food.com

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

5 to 7 cloves garlic, minced finely

2 cups tomato juice

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1 teaspoon white vinegar
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To make the sauce, sauté the onion over medium heat until quite brown. Add the garlic and cook shortly, about a minute. Add tomato juice and sugar. Lower the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Add the vinegar and seasonings, and cook an additional 2 to 3 minutes.