Koshary : From the Egyptian Platter

November 22, 2011

Koshary : From the Egyptian Platter

Koshary is an authentic Egyptian street food which is not only yummy ,but is also very healthy and full of variety. During our tour to Egypt , our guide Ahmed treated us with this wonderful dish .At the very moment , I was in love with the dish and had decided that i am surely gonna try my hands on it.

Though there is no rocket science involved in cooking, there are many preparations to make and one needs to cook each and every 'component' separately. The typical components of Koshary are : Rice ,Lentils , Macaroni ,Chickpeas , Onions ,Garlic and spicy Tomato Sauce/ Tomato Shoraba . A lot of people add spaghetti as well but I just added Macaroni .

So, here comes the recipe:

Ingredients:

Rice : 2 cups

Brown Lentils (साबूत मसूर दाल ) : 1 cup

Elbow Macaroni : 1 1/2 cup

Onions: 2 (large) ,cut into thin slices
Garlic : 8 cloves

Oil: 4 tablespoons

Pepper Powder: 1 1/2 teaspoon

Chilly flakes: 2 teaspoons

Vinegar: 1/4 cup

Tomatoes : 6 (large)

Salt to taste

Method :

Cook lentils in water with 1 tsp salt till they become tender. Drain the water and keep aside. Cook the rice and macaroni (separately) in the same manner. Drain the water and keep aside. Remember that once you drain the water from macaroni ,cover the pot immediately or it becomes sticky.

For Tomato sauce /Tomato Shorba :

Cut the tomatoes in dices and grind them to a fine puree. In a pot , put 2 tablespoon vegetable oil. Put minced garlic cloves in hot oil .Wait till the color turns light brown. Now add tomato puree ,vinegar , pepper powder , chilly flakes and salt to taste . Boil it till the color becomes darker.

For Garnishing:

Put 2 tablespoon oil in a saucepan. Add 4-5 finely chopped garlic cloves and fry till they are crisp. Take out and drain on a tissue paper. Now put the finely chopped onions and fry till they become brown and crisp. Drain them as well on the tissue.

Now in the remaining oil , add the cooked macaroni and fry for 2-3 minutes so that they get the taste of the friend onions . Stir continuously so to prevent burning.

How to serve:

The way Koshary is served ,is somewhat similar to serving Biryani. Take a deep bowl . Place 1 serving of rice followed by 1 serving of Macaraoni and then 1 serving of brown lentils . Top these 3 layers with 1 serving of tomato sauce . Garnish it with the fried onions and garlic, sprinkle some chilly flakes and pepper. While serving , also serve some additional quantity of fried onions and sauce which makes the platter complete.

This is how my Koshary looked. Heaven !! I am sure this will be the only word which will come to your mind after tasting it. So give it a try to this special Egyptian delicacy enjoy it to the fullest.