Ketchri – A love story between the rice and the lentils

by Ilana Avissar

Every Wednesday at two o’clock
I go down, and search in the stock
I look for red lentils and rice
To make a meal that will be nice.

I pour one cup of lentils into a pot
And add two cups of rice - not a lot
The rice ‘til now was all alone
And the lentils were as hard as stone.

Soak in water for half an hour
And then give them all a nice shower
Now both become soft and clean
As beautiful as they never have been.

The rice saw the lentils suddenly
No more will he be sad and lonely
The lentils are round and start to blossom
As they see the rice tall and handsome.

Both close their eyes and smile with delight
Can not tear from each other their sight
To them I add tomato sauce, salt and pepper
On them I pour three cups of hot water.

They warm up nicely on a high fire
And drink the water with desire
After the water is completely gone
Almost dry, they are left alone.

The rice says: Hello Sweet Miss!
And gives her a lovely long kiss
We lower the fire and simmer them slowly
For five minutes to cook totally.

We then fry oil, cumin, garlic and onion
And mix in to give taste to this union
Now together they happily live
A delicious meal to us they give.

The love between them has given us joy
By mixing in yoghurt we doubly enjoy
Our meal is great, tasty and very good
It is called Ketchri and is an Iraqi food.

Ingredients:
2 cups rice, 1 cup red lentils, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, 3 cups water, 4 teaspoons oil, 15 pieces of garlic finely cut, l teaspoon cumin, 1 onion cut into squares and fried, 11/2 spoons tomato purée