This recipe comes from Vegetarian Dishes from the Middle East by Arto Der Haroutunian, one of his many popular cookbooks. I’ve tried a number of his books and recipes and never found one that was less than delicious.

Arto sadly died far too early but managed to accomplish a lot in his lifetime. In addition to the cookbooks and restaurants in Manchester and London, he was also a painter, trained as an architect, loved music and even composed. Born in Aleppo, he migrated with his family as a child, settling in Manchester

Mushosh also works well as a vegetarian main course. I’m giving Artos’s measurements but --- do it to your taste and add whatever spices/herbs you enjoy.

Arto subtitles it “Lentil Salad” and writes that it is “an Armenian salad, and a fascinating mixture of lentils, walnuts and apricots – the national fruit of Armenia, Prunus armenicus.”

Dressing:

3 tbsp olive oil

1 ½ tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

2 tbsp chopped parsley

Ingredients:

6 oz (175 g) brown lentils

1 small onion, chopped

3 oz (75 g) dried apricots, chopped

2 oz (50 g) walnuts, chopped

Wash the lentils and cook in lightly salted water until almost tender. Add a little more water if necessary. Make sure you do not overcook the lentils. Stir in the onion, apricots and walnuts and cook for a further 15 minutes. Strain the mixture and leave to cool. Transfer to a serving bowl.

In a small bowl, mix together the oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Add the dressing to the lentils together with the parsley.

Toss and serve.