An Armenian lentil salad with caramelized onions, dried apricots, and walnuts — served at room temperature as a Lenten dish, a meze, or a side that quietly steals the whole meal.
Mshosh is one of Armenia's great Lenten dishes, made during the 40-day fast before Easter when meat is traditionally avoided. It is a lentil salad, but calling it that barely does it justice. The lentils are cooked until just tender, then combined with deeply caramelized onions that have taken on a jammy sweetness from long slow cooking, sour dried apricots that have been soaked until plump and then roughly chopped, and walnuts that add crunch and richness. Cumin and coriander tie everything together. A last-minute drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon lift the whole thing. The result is a dish of layered contrasts: soft lentils and crunchy walnuts, sweet onion and tart apricot, earthy cumin and bright lemon. Mshosh is served at room temperature or slightly warm, never hot. It appears on the meze table alongside other cold dishes and keeps beautifully for two days in the refrigerator. It is also the dish that converts people who thought they didn't like lentils, because the apricot and the caramelized onion transform what could be heavy into something almost festive.
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