Instruction

• Cook the lentils
• Bring lentils and 4 cups of water to a boil in a medium pot or saucepan over high heat
• Reduce the heat to low and cook until lentils are just tender (15-17 minutes)
• Drain from water and season with a little salt
• (Note: when the lentils are ready, they should not be fully cooked
• They should be only par-cooked and still have a bite to them as they need to finish cooking with the rice)
• Now, for the rice
• Drain the rice from its soaking water
• Combine the par-cooked lentils and the rice in the saucepan over medium-high heat with 1 tbsp cooking oil, salt, pepper, and coriander
• Cook for 3 minutes, stirring regularly
• Add warm water to cover the rice and lentil mixture by about 1 1/2 inches (you’ll probably use about 3 cups of water here)
• Bring to a boil; the water should reduce a bit
• Now cover and cook until all the liquid has been absorbed and both the rice and lentils are well cooked through (about 20 minutes)
• Keep covered and undisturbed for 5 minutes or so
• Now make the pasta
• While the rice and lentils are cooking, make the pasta according to package instructions by adding the elbow pasta to boiling water with a dash of salt and a little oil
• Cook until the pasta is al dente
• Drain
• Cover the chickpeas and warm in the microwave briefly before serving
• Make the crispy onion topping
• Sprinkle the onion rings with salt, then toss them in the flour to coat
• Shake off excess flour
• In a large skillet, heat the cooking oil over medium-high heat, cook the onion rings, stirring often, until they turn a nice caramelized brown
• Onions must be crispy, but not burned (15-20 minutes)