Instant Pot Lentil, Rice, Beef and Onion “Mejadra” Style

In their cookbook “Jerusalem”, Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi share a recipe for what they consider to be the quintessential comfort food of the Jerusalem. I have only slightly altered their recipe. I cook it is stages in an Instant Pot, have included ground beef, shortened the cooking process for the onions (omitting the flour and sugar), added cardamom and cardamom pods to the recipe, and substituted ground spices.

1/2 lb ground beef
1 cup onion, thinly sliced
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 cup dried lentils
1/2 cup rice (not instant)
1 beef bouillon cube
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes (divided)
1/2 tsp turmeric (divided)
1/2 tsp ground cumin (divided)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (divided)
1/2 tsp ground cardamom (divided)
2 cardamom pods

1. Pressure cook the lentils in the Instant Pot in 1 1/2 cups water and the bouillon cube for 7 minutes.

2. Drain but RESERVE the cooking liquid.

3. Place the drained lentils in a 9″ baking dish.

4. Using the saute function on the instant pot, cook the ground beef. Season with half the garlic powder, red pepper flakes, turmeric, cinnamon, cumin and ground cardamom. Drain.

5. Add the beef to the lentils in the baking dish.

6. Wipe out the instant pot, add the vegetable oil, and saute the onion until golden brown, Drain and set aside.

7. Wipe out the instant pot.

8. Add enough water to the reserved liquid from cooking the lentils to make 1 1/2 cups liquid.

9. Add the liquid, along with the rice, the remaining spices and the cardamom pods to Pressure Cook at the Rice setting.

10. Manually release the pressure. Add the rice (draining first if all the water has not evaporated) to the lentils and beef.

11. Stir to combine. Taste, and adjust seasoning as desired.

12. Top with the browned onions.

13. Cover the baking dish with a lid or foil, and cook in a slow (200F) oven until warmed through. Keep warm.

14. Serve with yogurt, a salad, and if desired, flat bread.

Servings: 4

Cooking Times
Preparation Time: 1 hour

Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1/4 of a recipe (12.8 ounces).
Percent daily values based on the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition information calculated from recipe ingredients.