Koshari – Egyptian national dish
Koshari is an Egyptian vegan specialty that is known as a popular and affordable street food. It is a wild mixture of various staple foods and flavors of the Levant. You can easily make the Egyptian national dish yourself with my koshari recipe.
What is Koshari?
Koshari or koshary, kushari and koshari is considered the Egyptian national dish. It is not only cooked a lot at home, but you can also find it at markets and on street corners, where it is sold as cheap street food.
This aromatic dish combines noodles, rice, lentils, chickpeas, tomato sauce and roasted onions and represents the diversity of Egyptian cuisine, which is influenced by Asian spices and Mediterranean cuisine.
It is a dish that reflects the history and flavors of the region. Like Pad Thai or Nasi Goreng, it is prepared with the ingredients that are available. The ingredients can therefore vary from recipe to recipe.
Koshari is said to have its roots in India and is a modified version of khichdi, an Indian rice and lentil dish. British soldiers are said to have brought it from India to Egypt during the colonial period, where it was then supplemented with ingredients from the region.
According to another story, kushari was served as a breakfast dish of rice and lentils in ancient times and means food of the gods.
The koshari reminds me a lot of mudardara – a fairly simple dish made from rice, lentils, fried onions and aromatic spices. It’s a colorful hodgepodge and a Levantine classic.
You need these ingredients for authentic Koshari
For the Egyptian national dish, all kinds of staple foods are combined, which you prepare in various steps.
For an authentic kushari, as I know it, you need the following ingredients:
- For the topping: onions, cornflour, salt, vegetable oil for frying and fresh parsley.
- For the tomato sauce: onions, garlic, white wine vinegar, strained tomatoes, olive oil and spices such as harissa, coriander, cumin, cinnamon and, of course, salt.
- For the koshari: plate lentils, rice, small tubular noodles (like macaroni), cooked chickpeas, olive oil and spices such as coriander, cumin, pepper and salt.
Make your own koshari with 5 simple tips
This nutritious meal requires chopping, frying and cooking! And as it contains many components, you’ll need to prepare one at a time or in parallel to bring them together when serving. With my 5 simple tips for preparing kushary, it’s really easy.
- Deep-fry the onion rings! The fat should be at the right temperature of approx. 175°C to make them nice and crispy. Stand next to them while frying so that they don’t burn.
- Fry the spices and simmer the tomato sauce! For more flavor, toast the spices and let the sauce simmer so that it thickens. In summer, you can also prepare the sauce with fresh, ripe tomatoes.
- Lentils, rice, pasta and chickpeas: choose green lentils or plate lentils as they don’t break down so quickly. For the rice, you can choose between jasmine rice or basmati rice, as these varieties are nice and fluffy. For the noodles, you are welcome to use tubular noodles, as they soak up the sauce nicely. And if you use dried chickpeas, you should soak them overnight and pre-cook them. This is a little time-consuming, so I recommend using pre-cooked chickpeas from a jar.
- Pay attention to the textures of the Koshari ingredients! They must not be overcooked or too firm to the bite, as they ensure an ingenious interplay of crispy, velvety, fluffy and crunchy in the mouth.
- Koshari must be layered! The authentic lentil and rice noodle dish is always layered with the various components and then served.
The individual components can also be easily prepared and reheated if necessary. I recommend it for festive occasions with lots of guests, as it is suitable for many portions.
If you liked the Egyptian Koshari recipe, please leave a rating and if you have any questions or suggestions, let me know in the comments. I hope you enjoy cooking and, of course, bon appétit.
Koshari recipe – the Egyptian national dish
Ingredients
For the onion rings
- 1 large onion
- 30 g cornflour
- 1 pinch Salt
- 100 ml Rapeseed oil for frying
For the tomato sauce
For the Koshari
- 100 g Plate lentils
- 230 g Rice
- 1 tablespoon Olive oil
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 0,5 teaspoon cumin
- Salt, pepper
- 500 ml Water
- 160 g small tubular noodles
- 215 g Chickpeas
- 8 Stems Parsley
Zubereitung
Preparation of onion rings
- Peel the onion and cut into rings.
- Mix the cornflour with the salt and turn the onion rings in it on all sides.
- Heat the oil in a pan or pot to 170° C and fry the onion rings on all sides for approx. 5-7 minutes until golden and crispy.
- Drain on kitchen paper and set aside to serve.
Preparation tomato sauce
- Peel and roughly chop the onion and garlic.
- Puree the onion and garlic with the white wine vinegar, harissa, coriander, cumin and cinnamon in a food processor (blender) to a paste.
- Heat the oil in a pan and fry the paste in it over a medium heat for approx. 3 minutes. Pour in the tomato purée and simmer for approx. 20 minutes over a medium heat with the lid on. The sauce should thicken slightly. Season to taste with salt and keep the sauce warm until ready to serve.
Preparation Koshari
- Rinse the lentils under running water and bring to the boil in a pan with water and salt. As soon as they have boiled briefly, reduce the heat to the lowest setting and cook for approx. 10-15 minutes until al dente.
- Rinse the rice under running water until it has become clear.
- Heat the oil in a pan and fry the rice and lentils for approx. 3 minutes. Season with coriander, cumin and salt and add water.
- Bring the rice and lentil mixture to the boil, reduce the heat to the lowest setting and simmer with the lid on for approx. 20 minutes until the water has been absorbed. Fluff up with a fork from time to time.
- Cook the pasta al dente according to the packet instructions.
- Heat the chickpeas in a pan or in the microwave.
- Wash the parsley, pluck the leaves from the stalks and roughly chop.
Serve Koshari
- To serve, fluff up the rice and lentils with a fork and divide between plates. Top the lentil and rice mixture with the noodles, chickpeas and sauce, garnish with fried onion rings and parsley and serve.
Notes
Nährwerte
Can’t get enough of lentils and rice? Then be sure to try the lentil puree Mujadara, the lentil stew with noodles Rashta or the spiced rice Hashweh.
You can also follow me on Instagram for even more inspiration about Levante cuisine.
