By Ligaya Mishan
- Total Time
- 1 hour 15 minutes
- Rating
- 4(495)
- Notes
- Read community notes
In Arabic, adas are lentils, and rqaq is a flatbread as thin and nearly as sheer as paper. The two come together in this stew, which was traditionally a way to use dough left over from baking bread, as the Palestinian artist and chef Mirna Bamieh explains. The lentils are simmered with cumin, bringing its stealthy warmth, along with bronzed onions, tamarind and sweet-sour pomegranate molasses. Meanwhile, scraps of dough are rolled out, then up into cylinders and slashed into long, skinny strands that look like tagliatelle. But you don’t have to wait for baking day: Instead, just knead together the quick dough below or swap in dried pasta. The noodles are dropped right in the pot, to cook among the lentils, leaching starch and making the stew even richer.
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Ingredients
Yield:6 to 8 servings
- 1cup all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
- ⅓cup warm water
- 2tablespoons olive oil, plus more for brushing
- Canola or other neutral oil, for frying (optional)
- 3 to 4flatbreads, such as pitas, cut into ¾-inch squares (optional)
- 1medium onion, halved and thinly sliced (optional)
- ½ to 1cup pomegranate seeds
- ½cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
- Olive oil, for drizzling
- 2cups brown lentils
- Warm water, as needed
- ½teaspoon ground cumin
- ½cup olive oil
- 2medium onions, chopped
- 2tablespoons tamarind concentrate
- 1½tablespoons pomegranate molasses
- 1tablespoon salt, plus more to taste
- 6garlic cloves, minced
- 2cups fresh cilantro, chopped
- 3tablespoons lemon juice, plus more to taste (from 2 to 3 lemons)
For the Dough (optional; See Tip)
For the Garnishes
For the Lentils
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
581 calories; 30 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 20 grams monounsaturated fat; 5 grams polyunsaturated fat; 66 grams carbohydrates; 9 grams dietary fiber; 9 grams sugars; 17 grams protein; 465 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Put lentils in a medium bowl and add warm water to cover by 2 inches. Set aside to soak for 30 minutes.
Step
2
If you’re making the dough, prepare it while the lentils soak: Combine the flour, warm water, and the olive oil in a medium bowl. Mix the ingredients to combine, then knead in the bowl until smooth, about 3 minutes. Brush with olive oil, then let rest in the bowl, covered with a clean towel, for 30 minutes.
Step
3
If you’re making the optional fried flatbread or onion garnishes, prepare them while the dough rests: Fill a large saucepan with canola oil to a depth of 1 to 2 inches. Bring to 350 degrees over high heat. (A piece of flatbread should sizzle vigorously.) Line 2 plates with paper towels. Working in 2 batches, fry the flatbread until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes per batch. Transfer to one of the prepared plates to drain. Allow the oil to come back to 350 degrees. Working in 2 batches, fry the onion, separating the slices as you add them and stirring occasionally, until crisp, 3 to 4 minutes per batch. Transfer to the other plate to drain.
Step
4
Make the lentils: Fill a large pot with 9 cups of water. Drain and rinse the lentils, then add them to the water, along with the cumin. Bring to a boil over high heat, then drop the heat to medium-low and let simmer until the lentils are slightly softened but still firm, about 10 minutes. You can scoop one out to test the texture.
Step
5
Meanwhile, put a large frying pan over medium heat. Add ¼ cup olive oil, and when the oil is hot, add the onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions turn pliant and golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. When the lentils are softened yet firm, add the onions and their oil, along with the tamarind concentrate, pomegranate molasses and 1 tablespoon salt. (If you’re using dried store-bought tagliatelle — see Tip — add it now as well.) Stir and let simmer until the lentils are completely softened but not mushy, 5 to 10 minutes.
Step
6
While the lentils cook, continue preparing the dough: Dust a clean surface with flour. Pat and stretch the dough into a thin sheet (1/16-inch thick, about 12 inches in diameter) and dust it with flour on both sides. Roll up the dough into a cylinder and cut crosswise into strands about ¼-inch thick. Unroll each piece, carefully separating the dough with your fingers as you go. You will end up with long strands like tagliatelle.
Step
7
When the lentils are softened, add the strands of dough and cook until al dente, about 3 minutes. (If you used dried pasta, it should be done about this time.) While the dough cooks, take the pan used to fry the onions and heat the remaining ¼ cup olive oil over medium. Add the garlic and cilantro, and fry just until fragrant, 30 to 60 seconds. The garlic shouldn’t change color, and the cilantro should stay green.
Step
8
When the dough is al dente, add the garlic mixture to the lentils, along with the lemon juice. Let simmer for another 2 to 3 minutes, then switch off the heat. Season to taste with more salt and lemon juice.
Step
9
Serve the lentils and dough in a shallow dish. Top with the pomegranate seeds, parsley and fried bread and/or onions, if using, in separate rows. Drizzle with olive oil.
Tip
- Traditionally, this dish was a way to use scraps of dough left over from baking bread. You can make a quick dough as outlined above, or simply substitute 4 ounces of dried tagliatelle pasta and add to the lentils at the beginning of Step 5.
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Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Christopher Zarcone
Very confusingly organized. The recipe should state up front exactly how much dry pasta to use, for those of us who don't have the time or energy to make our own dough.
Susan L
Christopher, the tip at the end of the recipe is very clear about the pasta substitution:TipTraditionally, this dish was a way to use scraps of dough left over from baking bread. You can make a quick dough as outlined above, or simply substitute 4 ounces of dried tagliatelle pasta and add to the lentils at the beginning of Step 5.
Shannon
Regular molasses will be far too sweet. You can make pomegranate molasses by reducing regular pomegranate juice
Cicely
the product after soaking and straining is the concentrate; you can also buy it in a jar (sans seeds and pods), which is more convenient but can taste a bit tinny.
Nannygoat
The recipe is so confusing I can not hope to try it.
Toni
I'm confused about adding fried onions with their oil, tamarind concentrate and the molasses to the lentils in 9 cups of water. Doesn't sound right...
Carla
P.S. The photo is gorgeous, and bears no relationship to the directions given in the so-called recipe.
Bo
This was delicious. The recipe reads more complicated than it is. The flavors were picked up in the noodles and the texture of the lentils and additions of pomegranate seeds and crispy onions made for a complex taste with little effort. NOTE: Garnishes definitely make the dish! I used 9oz dry tagliatelle (at the end of step 5), store bought crispy onions & skipped frying flatbread. My natural foods store had pomegranate molasses and tamarind concentrate in a jar -not tinny. A keeper!
Cheryl Keown
I always have a package of tamarind, a compressed cube of seeds, pods, etc. - which needs to be soaked and strained before cooking. How do I substitute that for 'tamarind concentrate'.
Elizabeth
I couldn't find tamarind, and also had doubts about whether I wanted to use tamarind and pomegranate molasses together, so I found this recipe for a similar (but not the same) pasta and lentil dish and made it https://zenandzaatar.com/recipe/pasta-lentils-syrian-style-horaa-esbao/. It was great and the recipes were clear enough. It has sumac and coriander instead of tamarind. I'm curious for people who made this recipe as written, what was your opinion on the mix of tamarind and pomegranate?
lanedc
Looks so good, but there's got to be a less confusing way to present this info.
Greg
Do you drain the lentils and pasta at the end, or do you serve it in the thickened liquid? The picture looks like it's very dry served on a plate (clearly strained) but the description says stew (unstrained)
Rebecca
I am familiar with the crispy fried onions in these dishes, and there is no way that they'll get brown and crispy with a 3-4 minute dip in the oil. This recipe has so many red flags that I'm bound to doubt it, which is a shame because this mix of flavors would be divine.
Sarah
It's topped with the "Garnishes" section of the ingredients list, and plated according to step 9, I believe.
John
For those of us who have had organ transplants and cannot therefore eat pomegranate or cranberries, a good substitute would be raspberry jam reduction.
Jennie
This is essentially thick lentil soup with garnishes, the photo is misleading. We all liked it. Very time consuming. For me, it needed extra pomegranate molasses to really come into its own, which I drizzled onto my portion. The garnishes make it.
HOHEFH
Can this be made ahead of time?
Richard Silverstein
Extremely confusion instructions concering the tagliattelle. Where it says "for the dough" it should say that THIS is the tagliatelle. And it should also say in that section that you can swap out dried taglitelle. The recipe ingredients do not say "tagaliatelle" at all.
Lindsay Schachinger
I share the opinion that the recipe is poorly organized. I had to keep searching back and forth while cooking. Nevertheless, it was delicious! I will make it again.
JohnAka
After reading Naz Deravian's Bottom of the Pot, I made a lot of substitutes. I used tamarind paste, mint instead of cilantro, cranberries instead of pomegranates, dried lemons, and sourdough fried into croutons. It was beautiful with red/green stripes, and just as delicious. I'd coat the onions in the wondra for the garnishes, and double them. I thought it might be too sour, but it all balanced out in the end.
ELC
Quick or lazy version: - Use pita chips (rather than fry pita)- Use tagliatelli or fettucini rather than making dough- Pomegranate: To separate arils (red fruit) from the white part, do the task in big bowl of water: the white parts will float out of the way
Carolyn
I followed the instructions closely and it was fantastic. The sweet/sour/salt/earthy/salty and fresh herb combo was a revelation. Pomegranate molasses and tamarind paste work well together and the fresh pasta was so easy it makes me wonder why I’ve never made it before. Took a bit to have all the ingredients to hand but well worth it.
Mark
To make tamarind paste: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1021264-tamarind-paste I used 2 tablespoons of it. If you ignore anything having to do with making the dough, the recipe reads much better. Adding tamarind and pomegranate together was delicious, for those who asked. With the lemon, the dish is tangy, so the pomegranate seeds are important. I skipped the fried pita and fried onion. Would recommend a smaller pasta to allow it to be eaten with spoon.
Chris Kirkman
I was feeling dubious toward the end of making this, and like many others found the recipe "creatively" organized. However, I was surprised to find that it was very good and a hit with my family, even without the fried stuff. It actually wasn't that difficult and the next time would be much more efficient. I had a similar question to to others about if you need to drain it at the end. I didn't need to but it was soupier than the picture.
Linda
Very, very good, even when cold. I substituted wide egg noodles for the tagliatelle and skipped the pomegranate berries as well as the pita pieces. The pomegranate molasses and tamarind paste brought a delightful piquancy to this recipe and the sauteed onions in olive oil gave it just enough depth to offset the acidity of the lemon juice.
Ferguson
This makes quite a large batch, too big to fit all of it on my largest platter. Next time I will deviate from tradition and serve the toppings separately so the crunchy ones stay crunchy and the cool ones can stay cool when the leftovers are reheated. My homemade noodles had a tendency to clump into doughy masses. I think this was worth the effort.
Jordana
This is a very disappointing recipe for the amount of effort.
nina
The recipe is a bit scrambled. But if you want to skip the dough part and just use dried pasta, you can go step 1,4,5, then the second part of step 7, then steps 8&9. I used half tablespoon of salt, because I used store bought pita chips - salted, and slightly less oil than recommended. I used 8oz dried pasta nests. The end result was delicious, not soupy and very filling - 6 very hearty portions, more like 8 normal. I will make double the crispy onions for the topping next time.
Julie
Nine cups of water was WAY too much. I had to drain the lentil mixture, which was basically soup. Very tasty after that.
Andrew Ignatieff
I can't wait to try this recipe, out of respect for all of the many Middle Eastern cuisine traditions. For Western cooks/aficionados of Middle Eastern cooking, I just want to know whether this dish could be made even easier by adding orzo, elbow macaroni, fusilli, gnocchi, and other forms of pasta, simply by adding the dry pasta at just the right moment to the cooking lentils so that the final pilaf is of lentils and mixed pasta? a perfect bed for roasted vegetables,baked in oven simultaneously
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