Such a great dish! I have ruined it the last few times I tried to make it by cooking the lentils before the rice, do not do this! Otherwise, you can pretty much use any type of rice you want. I once used wild rice and it turned out great!
Can you clarify what you mean about the lentils? The recipe op linked seems to suggest the lentils should be cooked ahead of time. Is there a different recipe you would suggest that describes the technique you've found to work well?
I cook them separately, I've tried to took the lentils and add the rice to the pan during the cooking but it's really difficult to not overcook the rice or lentils.
I found a one pot recipe on YouTube that has you cook the rice first and then add soaked lentils afterwards to finish cooking. One would think that this would make both mushy, but once you add the lentils they begin to take up all the heat and liquid. As mentioned if you attempt the opposite the lentils will still absorb the liquid even after you add the rice and you end up with undercooked lentils/rice unless you let it go for quite some time.
Ahh i missed that part. I have used a one pot version in which you start by cooking the rice and then afterwards adding presoaked lentils to cook. Of course with enough water to cook both.