Community Pick
Koshari
"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."
photo by Marg (CaymanDesigns)
- Ready In:
- 55mins
- Ingredients:
- 9
- Serves:
-
6
ingredients
- 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
- Cook the lentils in just over a litre of salted water.
- Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 15-30 minutes, depending on the type of lentils you are using.
- When the lentils are quite tender, add the rice to the lentils and continue simmering until the rice is cooked, adding water if necessary.
- Cook the macaroni in a separate pot.
- Rinse and strain when done.
- Meanwhile, fry the onions and garlic in the oil until golden.
- Add the tomatoes, chilli flakes, salt and pepper to taste and let it bubble for 10-20 minutes or until thickened and sauce like.
- You can now blitz the sauce in a food processor until smooth or just leave as is.
- Mix the lentils, rice and macaroni together in one pot.
- Place some of the lentil mixture on each plate and top with tomato sauce.
- Sprinkle with more hot chili powder or salt and pepper, if desired.
Questions & Replies
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Reviews
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My vegetarian daughter loves this dish. She asks me to make it at least once a week. She likes things spicy so I add a tablespoon of red pepper flakes. -
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. -
Interesting dish. I thought it was too spicy but others liked it a lot. It's always fun to try other cuisines! -
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. -
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.
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Tweaks
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I loved this dish. The only thing I did differently (at the advice of other reviewers) is add an 8 oz can of tomato sauce to the tomato mixture. Next time I think I would prefer to use 1/2 cup rice and 1/2 cup of lentils in place of the cup of pasta. I will be making this on a regular basis! -
Very good and very filling. I used a fresh chili pepper instead of the pepper flakes and fried them with the onions and garlic.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
This is a picture of me and my husband in Portugal, climbing up above the clouds with our bikes.
Right now we are travelling around the world on our bicycles, so I only pop onto Zaar occasionally, when internet connections and time allow me to. If I don't reply to a message about one of my recipes, now you know why! Our trip may take several years so if it's urgent, it's probably better for you to post in the forums ;)
Good food is really important to me -- I am happy to pay extra for food that I feel is produced in a sustainable and ethical way and always try to eat using seasonal produce.
When we were in the UK we rarely shopped at supermarkets, trying instead to favour small producers, although we were very lucky in that we lived in London and there was lots of choice.
We also were fortunate enough to have a weekly organic veg box delivered to our door, filled with so many lovely vegetables for very little money. It really opened my horizons in terms of the variety of vegetables I eat. If you're in the UK, check out Riverford for a box supplier as they're amazing!
When I'm not eating I love to take pictures and travel with my husband.
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