Adas — Everyday Lentil Porridge
A creamy puree of melted lentils, perfumed with cumin and coriander, drizzled with oil and spiked with onion. Eaten warm, with pieces of flatbread dipped in. Simple, filling, the pillar of the modest table.
A creamy puree of melted lentils, perfumed with cumin and coriander, drizzled with oil and spiked with onion. Eaten warm, with pieces of flatbread dipped in. Simple, filling, the pillar of the modest table.
Eat, my brother, and do not scorn the simplicity of the dish. See these lentils: they have fed the prophets before us and suffice for us. I cook them long until they fall apart, pour a little oil, dust them with cumin pounded in the mortar, and break the bread. He whose belly is light has a heart more prompt to remember God—that is the whole secret of our cooking.
- •Lentils — a measure (nourishing base)
- •Onion — one (aromatic base)
- •Cumin — pounded in mortar (signature fragrance)
- •Coriander (seeds or leaves) — a little (freshness)
- •Oil (sesame or olive) — a drizzle (binder and richness)
- •Salt — to taste (seasoning)
Adas — Everyday Lentil Porridge
A creamy puree of melted lentils, perfumed with cumin and coriander, drizzled with oil and spiked with onion. Eaten warm, with pieces of flatbread dipped in. Simple, filling, the pillar of the modest table.
Why this dish? The sheikh's diet is frugal by ideal: bread, dates, lentils, cereal porridges. This cumin-scented lentil puree is the archetype of the everyday Sufi meal—nourishing, cheap, eaten by hand from a shared dish, without excess or ostentation.
Eat, my brother, and do not scorn the simplicity of the dish. See these lentils: they have fed the prophets before us and suffice for us. I cook them long until they fall apart, pour a little oil, dust them with cumin pounded in the mortar, and break the bread. He whose belly is light has a heart more prompt to remember God—that is the whole secret of our cooking.
Ingredients (period version)
- Lentils — a measure (nourishing base)
- Onion — one (aromatic base)
- Cumin — pounded in mortar (signature fragrance)
- Coriander (seeds or leaves) — a little (freshness)
- Oil (sesame or olive) — a drizzle (binder and richness)
- Salt — to taste (seasoning)
Ingredients
- Red or brown lentils — 250 g (base)
- Onion — 1 large, sliced (aromatic base)
- Ground cumin — 1 tsp (signature fragrance)
- Ground coriander — ½ tsp (fragrance)
- Olive oil — 3 tbsp (binder)
- Water or broth — 750 ml (cooking liquid)
- Salt — 1 tsp (seasoning)
- Flatbread (khobz / galette) — for serving (accompaniment)
Method
- Sauté the sliced onion in oil until golden.
- Add cumin and coriander, stir for 30 seconds to release aromas.
- Add rinsed lentils and water, salt.
- Cook covered for 25 to 30 minutes until lentils break down into a puree.
- Mash lightly with a spoon, adjust salt, add a drizzle of oil.
- Serve warm with flatbread to tear and dip.
How it was made : Lentils, cultivated in the Near East since the Neolithic, were the staple food of the humble and the devout. They were cooked in an earthenware pot over a wood fire, mostly without meat. Cumin and coriander, ubiquitous in Yemen, provided all the flavor.
The contemporary twist : A spoonful of yogurt and some crispy fried onions on top, for the texture contrast dear to modern Yemeni cuisine.
Abdal Hayy ibn Mawlud · Charactorium
