Koshari

Sackville's Note:

I like to think of this vegetarian dish as Egyptian-style chilli. I was first introduced to it during a trip to Egypt four years ago, where it was nearly all we ate for a week! It's served in "fast food" type restaurants, sold from carts by street vendors and made in the home. There can be many variations, but this is close to the one I grew to love. By the way, this is a great recipe when you need to feed a crowd on the cheap.

• Total Time: 55 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 1 cup brown lentils
• 1 cup basmati rice
• 1 cup uncooked pasta (small shells or elbow macaroni is best)
• 2 large onions, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 (400 g) can chopped tomatoes
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red chili pepper flakes (or more to taste)
• salt and black pepper

Directions:

1. Cook the lentils in just over a litre of salted water.
2. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 15-30 minutes, depending on the type of lentils you are using.
3. When the lentils are quite tender, add the rice to the lentils and continue simmering until the rice is cooked, adding water if necessary.
4. Cook the macaroni in a separate pot.
5. Rinse and strain when done.
6. Meanwhile, fry the onions and garlic in the oil until golden.
7. Add the tomatoes, chilli flakes, salt and pepper to taste and let it bubble for 10-20 minutes or until thickened and sauce like.
8. You can now blitz the sauce in a food processor until smooth or just leave as is.
9. Mix the lentils, rice and macaroni together in one pot.
10. Place some of the lentil mixture on each plate and top with tomato sauce.
11. Sprinkle with more hot chili powder or salt and pepper, if desired.

Reviews

[Mike McCartney]

Excellent. I liked this very much. I admit that I am a big time meat eater, and the only reason I made this was because I am trying new dishes that use Basmati rice. I'm glad I tried this one. The only thing I did different was to add a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste to thicken the sauce a little more, otherwise did as instructed and it turned out great.

[jacknyc]

Recently had this dish at Abu Tarek, the place visited in Bourdain's Cairo episode. There, chick peas are served with it. Separate stainless serving dishes arrive with the fried onions, chick peas, lentils, hot sauce and tomato sauce in each. Also a steel pitcher is on the table, containing "garlic vinegar." So you can adjust to taste, and, as I like to do, keep them separate, and mix as you go, which keeps it interesting. <br/><br/>A few labor-saving suggestions: use a garlic-based pasta sauce, adding cumin and fried onion and sri racha hot sauce to it; a product at the Chinese markets called "Fried Scallion" is very close to the fried onions used. You can skip many of the ingredients and it will still be delicious, but the onions are key.

[rpgaymer]

Well this was quite good! I was worried that it wouldn't be too flavorful, so I added cumin and chili powder to the tomato mixture, and some garam masala to the lentil mixture. It was just right that way. I also left out the pasta. This made a great meal for meatless Monday- thanks for sharing the recipe.