Mujaddara

Rinse the rice in several changes of cold water until the water you pour off is almost clear, as the steamed basmati rice in this collection describes, then drain it in a sieve.

Bring the lentils and the 1 litre of water to the boil in a pan and skim off the foam that rises in the first few minutes.

Simmer uncovered for 15-20 minutes, until a lentil is tender to the tooth but still holding its skin and its shape.

Stop there rather than at soft. They cook a second time with the rice, and lentils already collapsing at this stage turn the finished pot to brown paste.

Drain them over a bowl and keep the cooking liquid.

Measure out 400ml of that liquid, topping up with water from the kettle if there is not enough.

Pour the oil into a wide, heavy pan and set it over medium heat.

Add the sliced onions, which will fill the pan to the rim, and turn them through the oil.

Cook for 25-30 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes and more often towards the end, until the onions have collapsed to a fraction of their volume and gone deep chestnut brown.

Watch them go pale, then straw, then gold, then brown, and keep going through the gold. Golden onions taste sweet and thin; it is the last five minutes, when the edges are almost too dark, that gives this dish everything it has.

Keep the heat moderate through all of it. Onions rushed over a high flame scorch at the edges while the middle is still raw, and burnt onion is bitter through the whole pot in a way nothing later covers.

Lift half the onions out with a slotted spoon onto kitchen paper and scatter a pinch of salt over them. They crisp as they cool and go on top at the end.

Stir the cumin, coriander and allspice into the onions and oil left in the pan and cook for 30 seconds, until they smell toasted.

Add the drained rice and stir for 1-2 minutes, until every grain is coated and glossy.

Tip in the drained lentils, the 400ml of reserved liquid and the 6g of fine salt.

Bring it to a boil, then turn the heat as low as it will go.

Put a tight lid on and cook for 12-15 minutes, until the loud bubbling has died to a faint hiss and only a wisp of steam escapes at the rim.

Leave the lid alone for the whole of that time. There is no water boiling in there by now, only steam, and every lift lets it out — the top of the pot stays chalky while the base scorches.

Take the pan off the heat with the lid on and stand it for 10 minutes.

Fluff the rice and lentils together by lifting and turning with a fork rather than stirring with a spoon, which crushes the grains.

Season with the ground peppercorns and taste for salt.

Pile the reserved crisp onions over the top.

Serve warm or at room temperature, with the yoghurt alongside to cut the sweetness of the onions.