Lentil With Dough (Hara’a Ousba’ou) Recipe

“Hara’a Ousba’ou” is a funny name for a dish because in Arabic it means “Burning Finger”. Despite its strange name, it is still a delicious dish. While popular in its county of origin Syria, it is still a hidden gem of Lebanese Cuisine, taking side-stage to more known dishes like hummus and mjaddara.

The lentils are cooked with home made dough in this recipe, but you can save time by using fried pitta bread instead, it works equally well.

Ingredients for the dough:
1 cup flour
a pinch of salt
about 1/3 cup water (more or less depending on the flour used)

Preparation of the dough:
Mix the flour with salt , add the water little by little until you have a smooth dough
Cover with cling film and let it rest for one hour

Ingredients for the lentils:
one cup green lentils
6 cups water
2 large onions, cut into wings
1 bunch of fresh coriander, finely chopped
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
5 garlic gloves
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil

Preparation:

1. Wash the lentils, and place in pot with water, boil until tender, it will take about half an hour
2. Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a pan, fry the onions until brown and put aside
3. Crush the garlic with a teaspoon of salt and mix with the chopped coriander
4. Heat the other tablespoon olive oil in a saucepan and fry the garlic with coriander then put aside
5. Preheat the oven to 180 C
6. Roll the dough on a floured surface to about 1/2 cm thickness, and cut into small square, place them into a slightly greased tray and bake half the quantity in the oven until they turn golden, leave the remaining uncooked
7. When the lentil is cooked add the lemon juice, the pomegranate molasses, half the fried onions and half the fried garlic, leaving the remaining to decorate the plate
8. Adjust the seasoning to your taste, then place the uncooked dough with the lentils and let it cook on a very low fire for about ten minutes
9. Place the lentils onto the serving plate, decorate with the remaining onions, garlic coriander and the cooked dough and serve