My daughter and i tried this last night, we have been eating a lot of vegetarian food recently as the Halal butcher is on the other side of the city.
I have Egyptian friends who have told me it is very tasty, i did not believe them until i tried it for myself. It's inexpensive and very satisfying, you can have it as mild or spicy as you like. It is traditionally served as a cheap, fast or street food in Egypt. Like an Egyptian version of the western drive through burger meal...This is the recipe i used and from my research seems to be the most authentic. Enjoy!
From Bottom up, the 6 layers of the koshary dish are:
1 Pasta
2 Rice with Vermicelli noodles (*I used plain rice)
3 Boild lentils
4 Tomato Sauce with GArlic
5 Fried onions
6 Chickpeas
the two sauces servec on the side are:
Hot Paprika Sauce
Garlic lemon sauce
Following is simple recipes for each of these components:
for 4 persons
PASTA 250 gms
Use the smallest "Penne" you can find for this recipe, the perfect pasta is called "Ditanlini", which is a short straight tube no longer than 1/4 inch. Boil the pasta, seive it and mix it with 1 table spoon of oil and 1/2 tsp salt.
Rice (1 1/2 cup) with Vermicelli noodles(1/4 cup)
In a pot, stir fry the Vermicelli in 1 spoon of oil until dark brown, add the washed rice, stir for two minutes. Add 2 cups of boiling water, salt and paper. put on very low heat and cover for 20 minutes.
Boiled lentils (1 cup) -can be prepared the day before and heated in the microwave before servig.
Use Black or green whole lentils for this recipe. Boil the lentils in 4 cups of water, strain and season with salt and peper.
Tomato Sauce with Garlic - can be prepared the day before and heated before serving
Stir-fry 1 minced onion with two garlic cloves in a pot with one spoon of oil. When yellow, add two cans of whole tomatoes or 1 KG of fresh ripe tomatoes cut to small pieces. Add a cup of water and simmer for 15 minutes. Blend the sauce until smooth and put back on heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Salt + pepper
Fried onions - can be prepared the day before.
This is the most anoying part of making a Koshary, because of the smell that fills the house when frying the onions. You may find in a Chinese Deli ready fried onions that can serve well for this recipe. just mix 1 cup of it with 1 spoon oil, 3 spoons water and 1/2 tsp salt. microwave for 2 minutes and here you go.
If you want to be authentic (recommended) cut two large onions very small, season with 1/2 tsp of salt and mix well to separate the onion. Fry in the widest pan you have in 1/4 cup of hot oil , keep stiring until very dark brown. Almost black. Pick the now fluffy and crunchy fried onions to absorbent paper. Don't get rid of the remaining oil - see my tips
Chickpeas - the easiest part of the recipe -
buy a can of chickpeas, open it and rinse it under running water!!!!
Hot paprika Sauce - can be prepared the day before no heating needed.
heat 3 spoons of oil in a small pan, remove from heat, mix two spoons of hot Paprika , add 3 spoons of tomatoe sauce which you already prepared. serve in a small bowl on the side
Garlic Lemon Sauce - again ..prepare the day before...
Mix 3 minced garlic cloves with 1/8 cup white viniger, 1 big lemon juice, 1 tsp cumin powder and 1 tsp coriander powder.
Tips:
Do not use Olive oil for this recipe, it will change the taste
Use the oil you used for frying the onions to mix with the Pasta.
I have Egyptian friends who have told me it is very tasty, i did not believe them until i tried it for myself. It's inexpensive and very satisfying, you can have it as mild or spicy as you like. It is traditionally served as a cheap, fast or street food in Egypt. Like an Egyptian version of the western drive through burger meal...This is the recipe i used and from my research seems to be the most authentic. Enjoy!
From Bottom up, the 6 layers of the koshary dish are:
1 Pasta
2 Rice with Vermicelli noodles (*I used plain rice)
3 Boild lentils
4 Tomato Sauce with GArlic
5 Fried onions
6 Chickpeas
the two sauces servec on the side are:
Hot Paprika Sauce
Garlic lemon sauce
Following is simple recipes for each of these components:
for 4 persons
PASTA 250 gms
Use the smallest "Penne" you can find for this recipe, the perfect pasta is called "Ditanlini", which is a short straight tube no longer than 1/4 inch. Boil the pasta, seive it and mix it with 1 table spoon of oil and 1/2 tsp salt.
Rice (1 1/2 cup) with Vermicelli noodles(1/4 cup)
In a pot, stir fry the Vermicelli in 1 spoon of oil until dark brown, add the washed rice, stir for two minutes. Add 2 cups of boiling water, salt and paper. put on very low heat and cover for 20 minutes.
Boiled lentils (1 cup) -can be prepared the day before and heated in the microwave before servig.
Use Black or green whole lentils for this recipe. Boil the lentils in 4 cups of water, strain and season with salt and peper.
Tomato Sauce with Garlic - can be prepared the day before and heated before serving
Stir-fry 1 minced onion with two garlic cloves in a pot with one spoon of oil. When yellow, add two cans of whole tomatoes or 1 KG of fresh ripe tomatoes cut to small pieces. Add a cup of water and simmer for 15 minutes. Blend the sauce until smooth and put back on heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Salt + pepper
Fried onions - can be prepared the day before.
This is the most anoying part of making a Koshary, because of the smell that fills the house when frying the onions. You may find in a Chinese Deli ready fried onions that can serve well for this recipe. just mix 1 cup of it with 1 spoon oil, 3 spoons water and 1/2 tsp salt. microwave for 2 minutes and here you go.
If you want to be authentic (recommended) cut two large onions very small, season with 1/2 tsp of salt and mix well to separate the onion. Fry in the widest pan you have in 1/4 cup of hot oil , keep stiring until very dark brown. Almost black. Pick the now fluffy and crunchy fried onions to absorbent paper. Don't get rid of the remaining oil - see my tips
Chickpeas - the easiest part of the recipe -
buy a can of chickpeas, open it and rinse it under running water!!!!
Hot paprika Sauce - can be prepared the day before no heating needed.
heat 3 spoons of oil in a small pan, remove from heat, mix two spoons of hot Paprika , add 3 spoons of tomatoe sauce which you already prepared. serve in a small bowl on the side
Garlic Lemon Sauce - again ..prepare the day before...
Mix 3 minced garlic cloves with 1/8 cup white viniger, 1 big lemon juice, 1 tsp cumin powder and 1 tsp coriander powder.
Tips:
Do not use Olive oil for this recipe, it will change the taste
Use the oil you used for frying the onions to mix with the Pasta.
