[Sca-cooks] Mujadara vs. muzawwara, related or not?

[ranvaig at columbus.rr.com]

>All the two dishes really have in common is the lentils, but I am 
>wondering if mujadara evolved from muzawwara, or if rice was ever 
>included in muzawwara in places where it was more plentiful. Or if 
>you served it with plain rice and just spooned the muzawwara over it.

I don't know enough Arabic to know if the spelling difference 
matters, but I suspect not.  I've seen mujadarrah, megadara, 
mgadarrah.  Just like hummus means chickpea, not necessarily dip of 
chickpea and tahini, I suspect that mujadara  means lentil rather 
than a specific dish.  Modern recipes seem mixed between using rice 
or bulgar, Perhaps the dish started as just lentils and onions, and 
went in different directions from there.  "Food of the poor" mujadara 
was probably served with flat bread, not rice.

Ranvaig