Vegan MoFo #11: Brown Rice Koshary (Egyptian Lentils and Rice)
| October 17, 2011 | Posted by Nada under Recipes |
Hey guys, hope everyone had a good weekend!
I’ve been attempting to relax and refuel after a very stressful week – final year of university is proving to be a lot more challenging that I had originally anticipated and at two weeks in, I’m already feeling pretty drained. Nothing a little rest and good old fashioned comfort food can’t remedy.
To some, that would mean a Sunday roast with all the trimmings, but yesterday I treated the roommate to my healthified version of the ultimate Egyptian comfort food: Koshary.
Earlier this month I blogged about the quintessential Egyptian breakfast, but Koshary is by far the most popular Egyptian dish, and is in fact considered by many to be the national dish.
This simple combination of rice, macaroni, lentils, tomato sauce and fried onions is often regarded as a blue-collar meal, but is enjoyed by all regardless of social class. I’ve yet to meet an Egyptian who is “too good” for Koshary – and I’m pretty sure I won’t any time soon.
It’s sold in restaurants and vendors all over the country and has even been dubbed “the food that fed the revolution”.
It’s hearty, fragrant and filling.
To me, it tastes like home.
Brown Rice Koshary
Serves 4 (plus leftovers)
1 cup of brown rice
1 cup of brown lentills
2 cups elbow macaroni
3-4 medium tomatoes – roughly chopped
2 medium red onions
1 T coconut oil (or desired cooking oil of choice)
For the chilli sauce:-
3-4 cloves of garlic – finely chopped or crushed
2-3T white whine vinegar
1 heaping teaspoon cumin powder
1-2 t chilli powder (or as much as is desired)
sea salt and pepper to taste
- To a pot of water, add the lentils along with a clove of garlic, half an onion, some cumin powder and salt and pepper if desired. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer until cooked. Make sure not to over cook – you want them slightly al dente and not mushy.
- Add the macaroni to a pot of boiling water, cook and drain.
- Cook brown rice until perfectly fluffed.
- Make a tomato sauce by blending the chopped tomatoes with about a 1/4 cup of water and cook according to this recipe, but without the onions (ie. add the tomato sauce to just the oil to reduce). Season with salt and pepper to taste (I like a lot of pepper when making this for Koshary). Feel free to use ready made sauce or chopped tomatoes to save some time.
- While the sauce simmers – chop up the remaining onions into thick strips. Spread on a baking tray greased with coconut oil or some cooking spray and grill on medium heat till edges are crispy.
- To make the chilli sauce, combine the garlic, vinegar, cumin and chilli powder with 1-2 tablespoonfuls of the base tomato sauce.
And with that, the laborious process of cooking al the separate components is over.
Serve by layering the rice, macaroni and lentils and top with a generous serving of the tomato sauce then top with grilled onions.
Add however much chilli sauce you would like – or do what I did and leave it at the table for diners to add at their own risk 
Served with a lush salad of mixed greens, carrots, walnuts and raisins (can you tell I love that combination in a salad?)
Have you ever had Koshary or any other ethnic street food?
What home cooked meal is your ultimate “comfort food”?
Here’s to a good week.
Oh, that does look really comforting and good. I love the contrast of colors it has still… especially how purple the onions look next to everything else.
Thanks! I was actually thinking that myself – the traditional dish uses small crescents of fried onions so the topping is usually brown. My version is a little more vibrant than usual but a colourful plate is never a bad thing in my book.
Oh that looks great! I’m definitely trying that for lunch very soon. I’m so glad I found your blog!
Thanks so much for reading Nanette
Let me know how it turns out if you do make it.
I LOVE kushari/koshary! I’ve just been mulling over how I want to recreate it, and I just picked up some crispy fried onions for the topping. I think I want to make it with a tomato sauce and a garlic/vinegar sauce, as I had it in Cairo. I find it’s pretty carby, so I may play with the proportions of lentils to rice/pasta a little.
The chilli garlic vinegar sauce is what makes or breaks a good koshary – I only add a little bit but it makes all the difference!
And I agree with you – it is pretty heavy on refined carbs which is why I used brown rice instead of the traditional white. I usually serve my plate with a lot more lentils than pasta as well. If you wanted you could use quinoa, wholewheat or brown rice pasta instead.
That’s so interesting that it is like your staple Sunday food in relation to the Sunday Roast of England! Looks sooo good. I totally relate to the final year stuff – it’s suddenly all becoming so real and full force – ahhh! My ultimate comfort food is mashed sweet potatoes, chicken and bakes beans!
Yeah I feel slightly in over my head but it’s okay – we made it through the first two (three for me) years it’s just that last hurdle now! And sweet potato mash is one of my faves too, love it with some maple syrup mixed in.
I love kushari, and I will try out your recipe. I usually add a lot of really fried onions, but I think this looks healthier.
The street food I grew up on is falafal. I’m still pretty obsessed. Where I’m from, they never put yogurt sauce on it, so its always vegan. here in the USA, I get sad when they don’t offer tahina at falafal places, and only offer a mayo or yogurt dressing.
Thanks for your amazing posts – I look forward to reading them.
I have the same problem in the UK – all too often I go to buy a falafel wrap or salad only to find it comes in a yoghurt dressing which is disappointing. And thank you so much for your kind words and for reading, I’m glad you enjoy my posts
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