This is not my first time I have made koshari. It is also spelled koshary and is another dish from Egypt. I have made this a few times before and posted the actual pictures in Facebook. I have gotten some constructive critcism from one guy. If he reads my post I have one thing I want to say is I was not upset at all. I forgot what his name is, lol. I am sure if he sees my post this time in a blog he will comment Inshallah.
It was one guy who is an Egyptian friend who gave me the recipe for koshari. He told me his sister makes very good koshari. It is really poor people’s food and it went mainstream. I posted a poll in Facebook for all of my friends to vote on. It said shall I make a post for koshari? 1 for yes and 2 for no. Everyone clicked 1 for yes so It is unanimous. I have friends from both Alex and Cairo. Before we start I am going to leave a couple of links.
First make rice and bokharat seasoning. The rest is as it comes. It all is cooked seperate and comes together at the end. So it can be a lot of work. Take 1 cup of rice and cook it according to the recipe in this link and yes it can be any type. In 2 big pots it is 1 gallon or 4 liters of water each and bring this to boil. In each one add 1 pinch of salt and 1 tsp of olive oil. Add the small broken vermicelli in one and the other the small bag of ditalini pasta and cook this according to package directions. Cook for 20 minutes, drain and set aside.
In pressure cooker add 1 cup of dry chickpeas, wash and add 1/2 gallon or 2 liters of water, close pressure cooker let the pressure build and when the safty valve pops up cook for 30 minutes.
In another pot take very small brown or green lentils in 1/2 gallon or 2 liters of water and boil for 30 minutes. When the beans are soft drain and set it aside.
For sauce in a pot add 1/4 cup of olive oil, 1 tomato and cook it down until it is mushy. Add 1 can of tomato paste, 1 quart or 1 liter of water, the bokharat seasoning freshly made in mortar and pestle, 1 bay leaf, 3 tbs of vinegar, I used balsamic vinegar but you can add whatever type of vinegar you want. Add 1 bullion cube or 1 pinch of pinch of pink salt with 1 pinch of red chili powder. Crush 1 small piece of ginger washed and cut, 3 cloves of garlic minced then add to sauce, 3 dashes of maggi or knorr aroma and stirr.
Now for the garnish all you need is 1 medium to large onion or 4 shallots cut in to half moon slices and fried until they are brown and crisp. This is the topping.
The assembly is rice at the bottom, add sauce the two types of cooked pasta can be mixed together in the same pot and this goes over the rice with more sauce and then the lentils and the chickpeas can be combined in to another pot and this goes on top and next finally the fried onions.
Here we have it and it is perfect to enjoy with a nice yogurt drink like leban. I hope you enjoy this recipe.
benazir's blog 