koshari recipe

Koshari is a traditional Egyptian staple, mixing chick peas, pasta, fried onions, and zesty tomato sauce, served on top a bed of rice and brown lentils! Flavor packed and not to mention healthy!

Koshari Recipe

onion,

Salt

all-purpose flour

cooking oil

Cooking oil

garlic cloves,

tsp coriander

-1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

28-oz tomato sauce

Salt and pepper

white vinegar

lentils,

rinsed,

salt and pepper

coriander

elbow pasta

Water

chickpeas, rinsed, drained and warmed

Sprinkle the onion rings with salt, then toss them in the flour to coat. Shake off excess flour.

In a large skillet, heat the cooking oil over medium-high heat, cook the onion rings, stirring often, until they turn a nice caramelized brown. Onions must be crispy, but not burned (15-20 minutes).

Make the crispy onion topping. 

In a saucepan, heat 1 tbsp cooking oil. Add the grated onion, cook on medium-high until the onion turns a translucent gold (do not brown). Now add the garlic, coriander, and red pepper flakes, if using, and saute briefly until fragrant (30-45 seconds more).

Stir in tomato sauce and pinch of salt. Bring to a simmer and cook until the sauce thickens (15 minutes or so).

Stir in the distilled white vinegar, and turn the heat to low. Cover and keep warm until ready to serve.

Make the Tomato Sauce. 

Cook the lentils. Bring lentils and 4 cups of water to a boil in a medium pot or saucepan over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and cook until lentils are just tender (15-17 minutes). Drain from water and season with a little salt. (Note: when the lentils are ready, they should not be fully cooked. They should be only par-cooked and still have a bite to them as they need to finish cooking with the rice).

Now, for the rice. Drain the rice from its soaking water. Combine the par-cooked lentils and the rice in the saucepan over medium-high heat with 1 tbsp cooking oil, salt, pepper, and coriander. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring regularly. Add warm water to cover the rice and lentil mixture by about 1 1/2 inches (you'll probably use about 3 cups of water here). Bring to a boil; the water should reduce a bit. Now cover and cook until all the liquid has been absorbed and both the rice and lentils are well cooked through (about 20 minutes).  Keep covered and undisturbed for 5 minutes or so.

Now make the pasta. While the rice and lentils are cooking, make the pasta according to package instructions by adding the elbow pasta to boiling water with a dash of salt and a little oil. Cook until the pasta is al dente. Drain.

Cover the chickpeas and warm in the microwave briefly before serving.

Make the Koshari

To serve, fluff the rice and lentils with a fork and transfer to a serving platter. Top with the elbow pasta and 1/2 of the tomato sauce, then the chickpeas, and finally 1/2 of the crispy onions for garnish. Serve, passing the remaining sauce and crispy onions separately.

Put it All Together! 

my favorite egyptian dish :) when i was a child visiting my grandparents in cairo, i used to get kushari almost every day from a street vendor near their apartment. this recipe is great, thanks for sharing !

Fantastic 😌. I have been away from Egypt too many years. My mother passed away 10 years ago and ever since I wanted to find the recipe of koshery. Unfortunately I never thought of the internet as I was brought up in the age without tv and telephone .Thank you for your sharing this humble but lovely dish.

Fabulous!  I had a late start with dinner so I cheated and used French’s crispy fried onions ☺️   Otherwise, followed the recipe exactly.   This will be on rotation for meatless Monday at my house!  Husband loved it as well.

OH !  OH !  Just got to try this..  Love ALL  the ingredients ,just checked my store cupboard and I have everything 😀.
As a lover of Mujadara, I  know I am going to LOVE this.. Even got "Wifey" to like lentils recently so this will be a definite meal this week... Thank you for posting this recipe 😘

I am a mudjara lover (I know I spelled it wrong!) so I was excited to try this, although curious about the pasta and chickpeas.  Easy to make, though many steps.  Did not take me as long as recipe suggests.  Very good.  I honestly had decided I didn't like it as well as mudjara when I made it, but then had the leftovers the next day....and as usual, they were better than the first day.  Really good.

I have tried  your recipes recently, one is Better then the next.
As you can imagine I have been cooking all my life, but your recipes are unique and described accurately, the end result is delicious.
Can't wait to see more.
Thanks

Last year my teenage daughter and I traveled to Egypt on vacation.  While we were there, we tried koshari and loved it.  When we returned home, my daughter asked me to find a recipe for it.  I did an internet search and discovered your website and recipe.  When I followed your recipe it tasted exactly like the koshari we had in Egypt.  It has become one of my daughter’s favorite recipes.  I have tried some of your other recipes too and love them.  Thank you!!!!

This was so delicious but is involved so not a weeknight meal for me. My only criticism is that I think it would easily feed at least 8 people. So next time I will halve the recipe.

Very disappointing, way more than 4 servings, underspiced, misproprtioned and ultimately bland

One of the most popular street foods in Egypt, worth every step!

Recipe for Koshary: an Egyptian National Dish

chickpeas

oz ditalini (cooked according to package instructions)

onions

tsp kosher salt

cornstarch

Vegetable oil

tbsp onions

vegetable oil

garlic

tomato paste

tomato sauce

water

tbsp white vinegar

cayenne pepper (optional)

lentils

rice

vermicelli (see notes)

HOT water

cumin (optional)

tsp cumin

salt (more

tsp black pepper

Slice onions thin. Sprinkle salt and cornstarch. Toss together. 

Add vegetable oil to a large deep pan to cover the bottom by 1-inch. Fry at 350 degree F. stirring every now and then, onions should be nice and golden brown,  Approximately 10-12 minutes. Reserve oil!

Line a plate with a paper towel. Add onions in a single layer and let drain on the paper towel. Set aside to harden.

Fried Onions

In a saucepan on medium heat add oil, and garlic. Sautè until fragrant. approximately 1-2 minutes. Be careful not to burn the garlic!

Add onions, tomato sauce, tomato paste, water, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and cover, let simmer for 15 minutes.

Tomato Sauce

In an enameled dutch oven or heavy pot on medium high heat, add oil with the fried onions, lentils, and 1 tbsp salt. Stir for 1-2 minutes. Add 4 cups water and bring to a boil. Keep heat on medium high, (it should be a gentle boil) for approximately 12-15 minutes or until the lentils are al-dente. *DO NOT DRAIN WATER.

Stir in rice, vermicelli, hot water, and additional tablespoon salt.(Option to add Cumin*) Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat low for 12-15 minutes or until pasta is tender. Fluff with a fork.

Rice and Lentils

All the ingredients in a measuring cup. Whisk to combine.

Cumin Sauce

Koshary is all about the layering! Add the rice with lentil mixture as the base, top with cooked pasta, chickpeas, and fried onions. Drizzle with tomato sauce and cumin sauce.

A great option for serving: Arrange all the ingredients on the table and everyone can assemble with all there favorite toppings!

Assembly

https://mediavine-res.cloudinary.com/video/upload/t_original/v1662743400/iJ9ObyJX3.mp4

Koshary Recipe

Koshary, koshari or kushari is one of the traditional Egyptian food. This dish is considered the national dish of Egypt and a very popular street food. Egyptian koshari recipe is one of the easy Egyptian recipes.

Egyptian Koshari

short grain rice.

(16 oz dry Pasta, preferably Ditalini or elbow.)

Tablespoon oil.

dry brown lentils.

Water lentils.

Tablespoons olive oil.

onion

(16 ounces tomato sauce.)

cumin.

(15.87 oz Vermicelli.)

olive oil

water.

dry chickpeas.

baking soda.

Water.

garlic (crushed.)

olive oil.

white vinegar.*

tomato sauce.)

Tablespoon ground cumin.

vinegar.

Salt.

Large onions (sliced.)

If you are using dry chickpeas, soak them in cold water overnight with 1/4 teaspoons baking soda.

Cook Pasta in enough salty water according to package directions, drain then add 2 Tablespoon of oil and adjust seasoning. Mix everything together and set aside.

Prepare rice as indicated on your package and set aside.

Put lentils in a colander and wash thoroughly under running cold water.

Place lentils in a pot covered with cold water and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and cook for 25-30 minutes until just al dente making sure to check on water level and add water whenever necessary.

Drain but do not rinse and in the same pot saute onion in oil until fragrant.

Add lentils back to the pot with tomato sauce and season.

Continue cooking until done and set aside.

Prepare lentils:

In a medium pot over medium-high heat, add oil and vermicelli cook until vermicelli turns golden brown.

Add water little by little and stir until you get the desired tenders.

Season with salt.

Cook vermicelli :

Drain soaked chickpeas and wash well with running water.

Place chickpeas in a pot, cover with cold water and add a pinch of salt.

Bring to a boil then reduce heat and continue cooking 60-90 minutes until the desired tenderness reached.

Make sure to check on water level and add water whenever necessary.

Cook chickpeas:

In a medium sauce pan, sauté garlic in oil until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Add vinegar, tomato sauce, water and salt then mix well.

Make tomato sauce:

In a small sauce pan, sauté garlic and cumin together until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add vinegar, water then taste to adjust salt.

Make Cumin sauce:

In a deep pot, add oil to cover the bottom by 1 inch.

Add onion slices and cook on medium-high stirring every now and then making sure not to burn the onions.

Take onions out on a plate lined with kitchen paper towel.

Set aside, it will Harden and get crispier.

Take 2 Tablespoons of the cooking oil and stir them in the cooked rice. This step is optional but highly recommended as it gives the rice shine and taste.

Fried onions:

You can let everyone take of each of the ingredients as he likes or make what is called tarabeesh (domes) by packing ingredients tightly in a bowl then invert it on plates. Top with onion and sauces.

To assemble:

I've made this so many times for my egyptian husband. It brings comfort of home to him, like many of your other recipes on here do. Thank you!

Hi Amira, I'm Egyptian,  born in Alexandria.   The last time I had kochi was over 30 years ago.   Mommy would make it for special occasions.  She recently passed, and all my favorite recipes with her.   I am so happy that I found you ❤️! I just made it and enjoying every single bite.  Thank you so much for reminding me of wonderful family gatherings!

I make this for my Egyptian grandfather and he's always so impressed. My grandmother passed away this past October and I've used so many of your recipes to provide some comfort to my Grandfather with food. Your site is a wonderful resource that I return to almost daily! Thank you!

I absolutely love your recipes!  Here you have painted a great portrait of koshari, explained different variations people might find, and given lots of great tips so people can cook this successfully.  And THANK YOU for including the da'ah/kamouniyyah.  I can't believe the number of recipes that don't even mention that.  Thanks again!

https://mediavine-res.cloudinary.com/video/upload/t_original/v1525373249/zjix1dwcckrcesjfaq5y.mp4

KOSHARI; THE NATIONAL DISH OF EGYPT
Koshary, koshari or kushari is one of the traditional Egyptian food. This dish is considered the national dish of Egypt and a very popular street food. Egyptian koshari recipe is one of the easy Egyptian recipes.

KOSHARI; THE NATIONAL DISH OF EGYPT

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Recipe for Koshary: an Egyptian Nat...

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