Cooked lentils with simple dough (horaa osbao)

A hearty dish from the Arabic cuisine, a cooked lentil stew with asimple dough. It’s very nutritious, full of fibers, vitamins and protein too! It’s vegan, and can be easily made gluten free.

Here it looks more like a tick lentil soup.

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 I had to edit this post, because I edited the recipe. The original way to make this cooked lentils dish , is to add simple dough. But I followed before, the modern way It was dependent on pasta, not on the dough. Therefore, most of the old content is not relevant anymore. I kept what works here.

What made me make this recipe again are few things:

• I’m updating all the photos of the old recipes on the blog.
• It’s one the most popular recipes on the blog.
• I had this dish over and over in Jordan, after I originally posted this recipe. So I had better understanding of the texture and the taste.
• I’ve done few changes in the recipe.

However, I forgot to photograph the dough, which is an essential part in this recipe. I’m gonna update this post soon so you can understand better what is a simple dough and how to make it and shape it for this dish.

Update: I made the dough , and here I’ll show you how to make it.

It’s a very simple dough. You will add only , all purpose flour, water , and salt. Mix them well till they come together. It should not be sticky or dry. It should be moist enough to hold the shape.

Then you flatten it with a. It should be really thin, so it will cook faster and more evenly.

Then you can add it to boiling water, to cook for about half an hour. Then you will add it to the lentils mix.

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Old content

I started a series “Arabic cuisine” featuring my traditional food. Today the dish is “Sweet and Sour lentils with pasta (horaa osbao)”

I was hesitated before trying this recipe, I usually don’t like to combine two carbohydrates sources in the same meal. But since lentil is related to legumes family, and has a high protein content, and other nutrients, I thought this would be okay occasionally.

Haraa osbao

This originally from Syria “haraa osbao” which means burned finger, not sure why, but most probably because the dish is so delicious, and you cant wait to dig it, but it’s hot and burn your finger and in Palestine called rashtaya or rqaq (which means something is thin and delicate, and they refer it here to the dough that used in this dish). I did mention that in meat dumplings recipe, that very old recipes meant to serve a crowd. Therefore, neighbors gathered to make it together. And then divided what they had cooking.

In the original recipe of “haraa osbao” they made dough, but people now are looking for easier recipe with less time needed to cook, so they switched to noodles. That’s why I went for pasta too. Less work, with a similar taste.

And here is the thing, I never had this before. But since I became obsessed with lentils  lately, I did give it a try! It’s nutritious, suitable for vegan, vegetarian recipes, and gluten free. I’m thinking its like super food, and its ridiculously cheap!

Cooked Lentils

They are very fulfilling beans, very nutritious ones. High in protein, and fiber. And have good amounts of minerals like Iron, zinc, and manganese. Also, B Vitamins like Folate. Its a complex carbohydrates, but with medium glycemic index value

The great thing in the recipe, are sweet, and tangy flavors coming from pomegranate molasses, tamarind and lemon juice. It can be hard to find pomegranate molasses, but you can always find it online, here is a brand that I truly love. Tamarind is essential here, however, lemon juice and the pomegranate will help in tangibleness. Also it has different textures. Plus it’s vegan, and you can make it gluten free easily.

Now lets get to the recipe! Enjoy! 

If you make this dish , please tag me #Nutrizonia on Instagram , I would love to see your creations! 

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Yield: 5

Cooked lentils with simple dough (horaa osbao)

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

An easy to make meal, its healthy, nutritious and vegan, and can turn into gluten free easily.

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Ingredients

• Dough:s
• 1 cup flour (GF if necessaary)
• Water as needed, just for the dough to come together, not too wet and not dry.
• Salt
• Half cup of brown lentils
• 1 Tb pomegranate molasses (it i gluten free but check the label if necessary)
• 200 g of tamarind soaked in 400 ml water
• 1 Tb lemon juice
• A handful of cilantro leaves chopped
• 2 Tb of olive oil divided
• 3 cloves of garlic minced
• 2 cups of water*
• For garnish:
• Fresh cilantro leaves
• Pita bread cut into bite sizes and toasted in olive oil. (GF if necessary)
• 20 Pomegranate seeds
• 1 Small onion diced like wings
• Salt, black pepper, and ground cumin as desired.

Instructions

1. Soak tamarind in hot water, and smash it with your hands for an hour minimum. When its ready to use. strain it, so you will discard any residues.
2. and Mix flour, water and salt, in a big bowl, and form the simple dough. Keep it wrapped for 15 minutes.
3. Then flatten the dough, and cut the dough with a knife into small pieces.
4. Put lentil with 1 cup of water, and tsp of salt in a medium pot, on medium heat. Leave it until it's soft, Almost 30 minutes.
5. while the lentils is on the stove, put the dough pieces in a boiled water for 30 minutes or until its soft., nut not mushy
6. Add tamarind, pomegranate molasses, and lemon juice to the lentils. You can add salt, black pepper, cumin for 30 minutes.
7. Then add dough stripes gradually, so they wont stick together, and keep stirring.
8. Heat a skillet, add 1 Tb of olive oil, and add the onions, saute it, until it golden brown, and flaky, and add keep it aside.
9. In the same skillet, add 1 Tb olive oil, minced garlic and chopped cilantro. Saute it until cilantro is soft, 2-3 minutes only.
10. Pour it over the lentil mix, and mix it with the rest.
11. Then add the garnish, in any way you like. plate them diagonally for visual appealing.
12. Serve it hot or cold. Refrigerate leftovers up to 3 days.

Notes

You can have a side of yogurt if you are not vegan.
You can add more water if you wish. However, just you know, after cooking, dough and lentils will absorb the liquid, so the mixture will thicken up.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

5

Serving Size:

1 grams
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 347Total Fat: 8gUnsaturated Fat: 0gFiber: 6gProtein: 10g