Koshari

5 from 2 votes

Koshari is an Egyptian comfort food dish that is so flavorful and delicious it has been named the national dish of Egypt. Layered rice, lentils, pasta, chickpeas and sauces, all topped with crispy fried onions make this vegan Mediterranean dish irresistible!

Course Main Course, street food

Cuisine Egyptian

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 10

Total Time 40

Servings

Calories 895kcal

Author Alexandria Drzazgowski

Equipment

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

8 oz Ditalini dry; or elbow noodles
1 ½ cups Medium grain white rice dry
2 15 oz Chickpeas drained and rinsed

Fried Onion Ingredients

2 Yellow onions sliced thinly
Sunflower oil for frying

Lentil Ingredients

2 tbsp Sunflower oil reserved from frying the onions
1 ¼ cup Dried brown lentils rinsed
4 cups Water

Tomato Sauce Ingredients

2 tbsp Sunflower oil reserved from frying the onions
2 cloves Garlic minced
1 15 oz Tomato sauce
1 6 oz Tomato paste
2 cups Water
¼ cup White vinegar
Salt to taste

Cumin Sauce Ingredients

1 tbsp Sunflower oil reserved from frying the onions
1 tsp Crushed garlic
½ tbsp Ground cumin
⅓ cup Boiling Water
3 tbsp White vinegar
½ tsp Salt

Instructions

Dry Ingredient Instructions
Cook 8 oz noodles according to the package instructions. Once cooked, set aside.
Cook 1 ½ cups rice according to the package instructions. One cooked, set aside.
Onion Instructions
Add about ½ inch sunflower oil to the bottom of a medium-sized pot. When the oil reaches 350 degrees Fahrenheit, you can begin frying.
Add 2 onions thinly sliced to the oil and fry the onions for about 7-10 minutes, until they get smaller and then begin to brown. Stir occasionally to make sure they cook evenly.
Once the onions have browned, remove them to a paper towel lined plate to drain off any excess oil.
Reserve the excess oil for the remainder of the steps.
Lentil Instructions
In a medium pot over medium heat add the 2 tbsp oil until warmed, then add the soaked and drained 1 ¼ cups lentils. Stir over the heat for about 2 minutes.
Add 4 cups water into the pot and bring it to a boil.
Cover, reduce the heat, and simmer for 17-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cook the lentils until they are tender but not mushy.
Drain any remaining water and set the lentils aside.
Cumin Sauce Instructions
In a small bowl or jar, add all of the cumin sauce ingredients. Whisk together until combined, then set aside.
Allow to sit for 15 minutes.
Tomato Sauce Instructions
In a medium saucepan, add 2 tbsp oil until warmed through. Then add the 1 tsp garlic and saute until fragrant.
Add the 15 oz tomato sauce, 6 oz tomato paste, 2 cups water,¼ cup vinegar, and salt to taste.
Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cover. Allow the sauce to simmer for 15 minutes. Then set aside.
Assemble
Assemble the koshari by layering the rice and lentils on the bottom, then top with cooked pasta, chickpeas, and fried onion. Then drizzle the entire plate with the cumin sauce and tomato sauce
You can really blow your guests away by stacking the ingredients into a tower. To do so, use a small bowl. In the bowl, layer the fried onions, chickpeas, pasta, then rice and lentils, in that order. Flip the bowl over onto a plate, allowing the koshari to release itself from the sides. Lift away the bowl and drizzle with the tomato sauce and cumin sauce. Enjoy!

Notes

Onions: Yellow onion works best, but you could also use a red onion or white onion. You’ll slice this thin and fry the slices in sunflower oil. Save the oil for cooking the rest of your ingredients.
Rice: Traditionally Koshari is made with Basmati rice, but you could use jasmine rice or any medium grain white rice. If you want to make the recipe a little healthier you could also substitute brown rice.
Lentils: Brown lentils are preferred but green lentils work just as well. In a true Egyptian kitchen, the lentils are cooked fresh. If you are really in a pinch, you can use canned lentils.
Pasta: Ditalini pasta noodles are best but I’ve seen it made with elbows if you have them on hand.
Chickpeas: Traditional chefs will encourage you to use dried chickpeas (or garbanzo beans) and cook them, but canned chickpeas work just as well and are less work to prepare.
Tomato Sauce: You’re going to use tomato sauce, tomato paste and white vinegar to make the vinegary sauce that tops this dish. This vinegar tomato sauce is what the Egyptian national dish is best known for.
Cumin Sauce: Use crushed garlic and ground cumin.
Some people like to cook the rice in the same water from the lentils by adding rice to the pot when the lentils are halfway cooked. This gives the rice a nice brown tint and would save you from cleaning one more pot. If you prefer the look of clean layers or have some eaters who don’t like the lentils, stick to cooking them separately.
The oil from the onions adds great flavor to the other ingredients. You can make your sauce, lentils and even the rice with some of that oil.
If you like a little spice, try adding cayenne or red pepper flakes to your tomato sauce. You could also add hot sauce to the table for those who want to add their own spice.
If you’d like to make this recipe a little healthier, you can use whole wheat pasta or brown rice instead of the white rice and pasta.
This is a great make-ahead meal as each ingredient can be prepared and saved but I recommend making the onions fresh so they can retain the nice crisp.
Some recipes call for using Baharat Seasoning in place of cumin. If you choose to go this route, make sure to use my Baharat spice blend recipe.

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