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

[Christiane]

Ranvaig says:

>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.

I had been suspecting as much, that both dishes just were variations on the word "lentil." I had also surmised that rice may be a more modern addition for "poor folks" food, because at least in the Middle Ages, rice was costly and considered in Europe sickbed food or food for the rich.

That being said, were there rice and lentil pottages in period, found in Arabic or Arabic-influenced cookery? I have one factoid: the Arabs had cultivated rice in Sicily. So how did they eat it? That's what I have been trying to figure out.

Gianotta