Khushari

NAME: _Khushari

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INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS:
1/2 cup rice
1 cup risoni or macaroni
1 cup lentils
1tsp ground cumin
1/2tsp ground cinnamon
1/2tsp ground cardamom
1tsp salt
1tbsp sugar
1/2cup vinegar (see notes)
1 tin crushed tomatoes (see notes)
1 small chilli
2 small onions (see notes)

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METHOD:
Cook each of the rice, pasta, and lentils until done.  Slice the onion to thin rings and fry or oven roast to crispy brown.  Mix rice and pasta, put in a heatproof dish and keep warm in over.

Mix 1/2 of the tsp cumin, the vinegar, the lentils, and the garlic powder, spread in an even layer over the rice/pasta, return to oven.  I also like to add 1/2tsp of the salt to this mixture.

Now mix the tomato, herbs, chilli, salt, and sugar in a saucepan, bring to a simmer, at which time you should pour this over the mixture in the dish without disturbing the layers too much.  See notes for what to do with raisins.

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SERVING:
Top with the crispy onion and serve.  This will feed two quite handily, and can be used as a side or entree for four.

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NOTES:
I've hacked this recipe a little bit to reflect what I remember it tasting like when I was in Arabia as a kid.

You can use tinned chopped tomatoes or (as I prefer) about two or three cups of chopped fresh tomatoes and a tablespoon of tomato paste.  If you do, you'll need to simer this sauce for about 15 minutes.  Either way, add the rasins about a minute before you're ready to take the sauce off and pour it.

Try rice vinegar and palm vinegar instead of white vinegar - surprising how much difference it makes to the end flavour.

And I've used Asian fried red onions as a topping for this and it's just as nice as fresh.

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