Pakistani Rice With Lentils And Nut Sauce

Total Time: 2 hrs 15 mins Preparation Time: 45 mins Cook Time: 1 hr 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 10
• 2 cups dark, round, small lentils
• 1/2 cup poppy seeds
• 1 cup cashews
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 1 seeded jalapeno pepper
• 4 cloves garlic (or as much as you can handle)
• salt
• 4 chopped green onions
• 1 bunch chopped cilantro
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• vegetable oil
• basmati rice

Recipe

• 1 rinse and cook lentils in plenty of water.
• 2 let reduce until there is about 4 cups of liquid leftover.
• 3 drain lentils, reserving liquid.
• 4 set liquid aside.
• 5 in the meantime, in a skillet, lightly toast, one by one (just until you can smell them): poppy seeds, cashews and almonds.
• 6 put in blender.
• 7 add jalapeno pepper, garlic, and salt.
• 8 gradually add leftover lentil liquid (should be dark brown after reducing for at least an hour) and puree this mixture.
• 9 puree until smooth and pour into bowl.
• 10 add to this the green onions and cilantro.
• 11 next, sauté the onions in vegetable oil until golden.
• 12 add lentils and sauté for another 15 minutes.
• 13 cover over very low heat and let marinate.
• 14 cook basmati rice.
• 15 then, in a large pot, layer rice and lentil mixture.
• 16 let marinate and simmer over very low heat for about 1 hour (i usually put a dishtowel under lid to trap steam).
• 17 serve, topping with liquid mixture, and adding liquid mixture as you go.