Pomegranate lentils

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 300 g lentils, yellow, dried
• 150 g onion(s), diced
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• ½ tsp sea salt, fine
• 1 pinch of ground pepper
• ½ tsp Ras el Hanout
• 3 bay leaves
• 600 ml chicken stock
• 1 tbsp pomegranate syrup, sour
• 1 pomegranate

Instructions

Working time approx. 10 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 40 minutes

Fry the onions in oil in a deep pan or wok. Add the sugar and caramelize until golden. Stir in the salt, pepper, and ras el hanout, and after 1 minute, add 300ml of the stock and the bay leaves. Simmer over medium heat until the liquid has almost evaporated. In the meantime, uncover the pomegranate seeds. The best way to do this is to quarter the pomegranate, break each quarter into a large bowl of lukewarm water, and strip off the seeds. The seeds will sink to the bottom, leaving the unwanted white membranes to float to the surface. If using dried lentils, rinse them in a sieve and cook with the remaining stock in the pan with the onions for about 20 minutes, according to the package instructions, until soft. If using pre-cooked lentils, do not add any more liquid and do not cook for longer than 5 minutes. Stir in two-thirds of the pomegranate seeds and heat for 5 minutes. Season with the sour pomegranate syrup and remove the bay leaves. Serve sprinkled with the remaining pomegranate seeds.