Koshari/ Kosheri - An Egyptian Delight

Being bought up in Dubai, I know a long list of dishes from different cuisines which I am yet to try. I always like to experiment once I try the authentic homemade ones so that I can figure out the real taste, which is not always practical for all the dishes I try. I have always seen this dish where ever I go in Dubai, a place where you have access to all sorts of cuisines. Alhamdulilah. We were neighbors to Egyptians a decade ago, they used to serve us their delicacy; stuffed grapevine leaves. But I never got to taste Kosheri, yet their whole house smells of this dish. When I cooked this I felt nostalgic of the childhood memories, when they used to open their door this smell used to gush into our noses. I was not too much into food when I was a child, always a picky eater. Don't ask when I developed a fondness towards food. 😄

So recently when I went for a gathering where all sorts of nationalities were assembled, a dear friend introduced me to Koshari. Was I delighted to try the authentic, homemade Koshari? I loved it! Couldn't wait to try it at home already. My dear friends helped me with the type of rice to look for in stores. I bought it the same day and tried it for Friday lunch. It was awesome indeed. I made a salmon side dish to go along with it.

Now lets come back to Koshari. Koshari is not only fun to say, but it is also definitely fun to cook too, with basic pantry ingredients, this dish defines how basic ingredients can form into a delicious and scrumptious meal. This humble bowl of comfort food might not seem very TASTY to the sight but the flavors that come from combining the tomato gravy and fried onions that has a vinegar hint to it (which I am usually not fond of) is out-of-the-world good.

Like I said, was I veracious when I said I wanted to try authentic Kosheri, I definitely said that because it-is-a-big-deal! Story ahead... Last week when I was roaming around Carrefour and I was dead hungry I came across Koshari and I bought it expecting it to be okayish. But when I tasted I felt so bad since the taste was not even up to the mark to say an okay. It was bitter. So next time you try from such stalls etc don't expect you can get the authentic taste. Here I have tried my take to replicate the one I tried from the gathering and I must say, it is very light on the tummy and addictive. 👌👌😋 Try my version and let me know what you think of it in the comments below.

Ps: My hubsy cannot have anything vegetarian on its own, hence the salmon with coriander-butter sauce happened to show up🤣

Ingredients:

For the Rice:

1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil

2 Cups Calrose Rice
2 cup Dark Brown Lentil
1/2 cup angel hair pasta
1 small onion diced

1/4 cup oil
3 cup water 

1 chicken/veg stock cube

Salt

For the sauce:
2 cups crushed tomatoes
1 cup water
1 tbsp Oil
1 tsp Cumin Powder
1 tsp Coriander Powder
2 garlic cloves minced
1/2 cup diced tomatoes
1 tsp sugar
Salt as required

For the dressing :
1 cup water
1/4 cup vinegar
1 tsp Cumin Powder
1 tsp Coriander Powder
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp red chilli flakes
Salt as required
2 minced garlic

Assembling Ingredients:
2 cups small elbow pasta cooked
1 cup chickpeas cooked
1/2 kg Onions sliced
Salt
1-2 tbsp white vinegar

Instructions:

• Immerse the 1/2 kg sliced onions in white vinegar. Cover and set aside for 1 hour.
• Now in the 2 cups crushed tomatoes add the ingredients mentioned under *for the sauce*. Mix, cover and put them on a medium flame till it boils and once boiled, put them on simmer for 10 mins.
  
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• To make the dressing, in a different bowl, mix the ingredients under the sub *for the dressing*. Give a good mix and set aside.
  
• Rinse the onions soaking in vinegar in cold water and drain off excess water. Now fry them in a deep pan with oil, check if the oil is hot enough and fry until the onion becomes a little more than golden brown but not dark brown.
  
  
  
  
• While the onions are frying, in a deep bottom vessel boil the dark brown lentil with some salt. 
  
• Next, boil the elbow pasta and check the tomato sauce in between and give a stir.
  
• In another vessel, let's boil the water with salt and Chicken/Veg stock (Optional) which will be used for boiling the rice and angel hair pasta.
• Next, sautee the diced onions in little oil and some salt, and once translucent add the angel hair pasta and stir fry for about a minute and add the calrose Egyptian rice and stir fry for a couple of minutes. Now add the boiling stock water to it. Once the water is bubbling, put the flame on simmer and let it get cooked covered for about 10-12 minutes.
  
  
  
  

• It's now time to plate! The most interesting part. First onto a serving plate put the rice and angel hair pasta mix first, top it with the boil dark brown lentils. Unto that add the cooked chickpeas and pour in the yummy tangy sauce and sprinkle the crispy fried onions on top.
• When serving, drizzle the dressing over the Kosheri and you are ready to feast on!😋

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PS: The recipe might seem a bit complicated, rather a lot of dishes to do but all that effort was well worth in the end. My family approved! 😃

Do try this recipe and don't forget to share your experience/feedback with me here in the comments or feel free to send me a mail. Also, do tag me at #taystedit if you try out my recipes on Facebook, Instagram etc so that I can see when you make it. ♡♡♡♡