Name: Kejadara with cucumber and mint salad
Ingredients: 4 large onions (700g), finely sliced; 1 cinnamon stick; 130ml olive oil; 3 garlic cloves, crushed; 1 tbsp tomato paste; 3 tsp madras curry powder; 1 tsp ground turmeric; 280g extra firm tofu, coarsely crumbled; 250g-280g (depending on your pack size) ready cooked basmati rice; 250g ready cooked lentils (We used Puy); 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar; 1 tsp brown sugar (any); 200g baby cucumbers, cut in 2mm rounds; 10g picked mint, roughly torn; fine sea salt and black pepper

New

Veganisable Side

Serves 4-6

Prep 20 min

Cook 50 min

This dish is a love letter to three pretty related comfort foods: Indian keema rice, Middle Eastern mejadra, and Egyptian kosheri. It borrows the warming spices from keema rice, the caramelised onions and lentils from mejadra, and that sharp vinegar bite from kosheri to brighten everything up at the end. The onions take the longest (about 35 minutes of slow caramelising), so you can make them up to two days ahead if you want to get organised.

Ingredients

4 large	onions (700g), finely sliced
1	cinnamon stick
130ml	olive oil
3	garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp	tomato paste
3 tsp	madras curry powder
1 tsp	ground turmeric
280g	extra firm tofu, coarsely crumbled
250g-280g	(depending on your pack size) ready cooked basmati rice
250g	ready cooked lentils (We used Puy)
CUCUMBER SALAD
3 tbsp	apple cider vinegar
1 tsp	brown sugar (any)
200g	baby cucumbers, cut in 2mm rounds
10g	picked mint, roughly torn
	fine sea salt and black pepper

Method

Place a large saute pan on medium high heat with the onions, cinnamon stick, 60ml oil and ¼ teaspoon of salt. Cook for 35 minutes until deeply caramelised but not burnt, stirring occasionally at the beginning and more frequently at the end. Set aside in a bowl.
Reduce the heat to medium, transfer the cinnamon stick back to the pan with the remaining 70ml of oil, garlic, tomato paste, curry powder and turmeric. Cook gently for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until fragrant, then stir in ¼ of the cooked onions and the tofu with ½ teaspoon of salt and a good grind of black pepper. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes to heat through.
Meanwhile, make the salad. Put the vinegar, sugar and ½ teaspoon of salt in a bowl. Stir until the sugar and salt have dissolved then mix in the cucumber and mint.
Stir the rice and lentils into the pan with tofu and onions, adding ½ teaspoon of salt, cover with a lid, cook for another 5 minutes until warmed through, then mix in the reserved onions.
Serve the rice with the cucumber salad alongside.