Yesterday I made a Cypriot (not just Cypriot, but it’s where I know it from) dish called Fagi or Fadgi. Lentils and rice, basically, with a shed load of fried onions and lemon. (Turns out I knew it under a different name, fakes moutzentra, which is why I was confused when I heard an American Cypriot call it Fagi.) Thank you cousin Chrystalia and sister Stella for helping!

It’s not extravagant, it’s not flashy, it won’t look great on an IG photo but it is filling, warming and homely. It’s also even tastier the day after. Given the WTF weather lately, cheap and filling definitely fits the bill.

Homely in the UK means cosy, but in the US it appears to mean (of a person) unattractive in appearance. Well….you can imagine what I think to that, so I am sticking with homely because for many Cypriots, this is a taste of home. My friend Eleni adds carrots to hers for extra sweetness, and cousin Chrystalia adds lots of tomato. It’s your dinner, so you can customise is at you see fit.

I’ve spoken before about how I hate food waste, but I also love repurposing, so when Husband pulls out all the raw onions from a Turkish takeaway, I grab them. There were a lot this time, so I’d say I had about a cup of ready sliced. I also had a carton of cooked lentils, and that speeded it up even more.

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1 large white onion sliced roughly into half rings or just chopped (use frozen if you want, or chop your own) probably measured about a cup

1 carton or can of ready cooked lentils (my carton was 250g drained weight)

85g or 1/3 cup basmati rice

Juice of one or 2 large lemons – do not stint here

salt

water

Chopped coriander or parsley

Put at least 3 tbs extra virgin olive oil into a saucepan (that has a lid)

Add in your onion, sprinkle a pinch of salt in, and start frying over a medium heat.

Keep cooking until the onions are golden – this will vary depending on the onion. I will not give you a time but it is invariably longer than you think.

Once they are golden, add the lentils, rice and 1/2 tsp salt. Mix well.

Liquid for the 1/3 cup of rice: Measure 1/3 cup lemon juice and an additional 1/3 cup water, pour those in.

Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover.

When the rice is cooked, stir in the parsley/coriander.

You can add a few more tablespoons of water if you want a more loose texture, but not too much.

I usually dress things with more lemon and olive oil because my Dad always did, and on this occasion I also used a little lemon salt on the top as well.