This Ramadan, enjoy Koshari, the Egyptian national dish

Gulf Today Report

Koshari is Egypt's national dish and a widely popular street food. An Egyptian dish that originated during the mid-19th century, the dish combines Italian, Indian and Middle Eastern culinary elements.

Koshari is made of rice, macaroni, and lentils mixed together, topped with a spiced tomato sauce and garlic vinegar and garnished with chickpeas and crispy fried onions.

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Recipe

Ingredients for sauce:

2 tbsp tomato paste

15 oz tomato sauce

1 cup of water

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

½ onion

Optional: 1 Green pepper

Fried Shallots

1 cup of vegetable oil

2 shallots

Rice and Pasta

1 cup of medium grain rice (sushi rice is perfect here)

¾ cup of brown lentils

4 cups of water

Pinch of salt

1 cup of elbow pasta

1 canned chickpeas

For the sauce, roast the green pepper in the oven for 40 minutes until tender. Remove seeds and green pepper top and puree.

Over medium heat, sauté diced onion until translucent. Add tomato paste, coriander, and cumin and cook for roughly 2-3 minutes to cook off the metal flavor of the tomato paste. Add puree tomato sauce and pureed green pepper. Simmer on medium-low for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

 Koshari, A traditional Egyptian dish. File

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

For the fried shallots, thinly slice the shallots into rings. Try to be as consistent as possible, so the shallots cook evenly. In a saucepan add the shallots and cold vegetable oil.

The shallots should be fully submerged, so they fry instead of sauteing. Cook over medium heat for roughly five minutes agitating the shallots slightly so they don't stick together and cook evenly.

Don't walk away while doing this because the shallots can urn very easily. Once golden brown, remove from the oil. Remember, the shallots will continue to cook once you remove them from the oil, so remove them when they are still on the pale side.

Rice, add the rice and lentils to pot, and rinse a few times under cold water to remove any excess starch off the rice. Add water and a pinch of salt. Cook on medium heat for 20 minutes or until the rice and lentils are fully cooked.

Assembly, In a bowl or plate, combine rice and lentils, pasta, chickpeas, add a layer of tomato sauce, and top with a handful of fried shallots.