Notes
Since we no longer have a stand-alone rice cooker we used our Instant Pot® to make this. I didn’t take notes on the changes we made, but I would note that the lentils were fully cooked after the first step. To prevent them from becoming a soggy mess, we took them out and added them at the end after everything else was cooked. It was easier to start the 2nd step right in the Instant Pot® without having to dirty a skillet.
Also noteworthy is the Merquén spice mix I brought over. It made its way to a friend of ours via a visitor from Chile. It’s often used as a condiment on lentil dishes in Chile. Merquén is the traditional Spice of the Indigenous Mapuche Tribe in Chile. It is a mix of smoked Goat Horn peppers, coriander, cumin, and salt.
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup lentils, preferably the black beluga or green French lentils
- 4 ounces fresh Mexican chorizo sausage, casing removed
- 1 cup rice (I prefer medium-grain rice here)
- ½ cup chopped green or knob onions (about 2 onions)
Or ⅓ cup chopped regular or garlic chives - Salt
- (optional) Merquén spice mix
Directions
- Place the lentils and ¾ cup water in a rice cooker and cook for about 20 minutes or until the rice cooker turns to the “keep warm” mode; the lentils should taste about half done.
- Meanwhile, in a large (10-inch) skillet set over medium heat, cook the chorizo, breaking up any clumps, until it has begun to brown, about 7 minutes. Stir the rice into the chorizo and cook, stirring nearly constantly, until it has turned from translucent to milky white, about 3 minutes more.
- When the lentils are ready, scrape the chorizo and rice mixture into the rice cooker along with the onion (or chives), 1 teaspoon salt and 1 ¾ cups water. Cover the rice cooker, once again turn it to “cook” and let the rice cook until the appliance switches to “keep warm” mode, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Taste a grain of rice: it should be very close to done at the core. If not, sprinkle a little water, recover and cook 5 minutes more. Gently fluff the mixture with a fork, reaching all the way to the edges at the bottom, to release steam and slow the cooking (though of course it can hold up to an hour or so in “keep warm” mode.)
- You’re ready to serve.