A recipe for Koshari

 Jack O’Donnell (he/him) has worked at top restaurants in New Zealand and overseas. He is currently head chef and kitchen manager at The ReMakery, and enjoys sharing the recipes he’s gathered in over 20 years of hospitality experience.

 

Koshari, an Egyptian dish similar to its Levantine cousin Mujaddara, is the humble yet widely revered street food dished up daily by street vendors in Cairo. It’s just the right kind of carb overload: one that makes you feel like you’ve been hugged by a giant fluffy potato. Bound to use up all those pantry staples, koshari consists of a mixture of well-seasoned rice and lentils, toasty chickpeas, and little bits of pasta. To make things even more delicious, there’s this tangy tomato-y sauce that goes on top to get mixed all through those fine starchy suspects, which is crowned and bejewelled with caramelised onions. Get your chilli flakes, chilli oil, olive oil, and favourite vinegar or dressing on the side, and you have yourself a sumptuous feast fit for very humble royalty.  

 

 Ingredients: 

 Koshari Base  

  • 3 cups cooked brown lentils 

  • 3 cups cooked rice 

  • Ground coriander to taste 

  • Salt & pepper to taste 

  • 2 cups cooked pasta, the smaller the better but anything will do 

  • Olive oil 

 

Crispy Spiced Chickpeas 

  • 1 x 425g (15-oz) can of chickpeas 

  • Spices (I like to use a mixture of ground turmeric, cumin, and coriander) 

  • Salt & pepper to taste 

Tomato Sauce 

  • ½ cup olive oil or other cooking oil 

  • 1 onion finely chopped 

  • 4 garlic cloves finely chopped 

  • Coriander to taste 

  • ½–1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, to taste 

  • 1 x 400g can of crushed tomatoes 

  • Salt & pepper to taste 

  • 1–2 tablespoon vinegar 

Crispy Onion Topping 

  • 1–2 onions sliced, depending on size 

  • Salt & pepper to taste 

  • ½ cup cooking oil 

Method: 

The best thing about this dish is that you can get every element of it ready ahead of time, particularly the rice, pasta, and lentils. I find that these develop flavour after being cooked, so reach for them on day two. It’s also good to dress them in a bit of flavoured olive oil once cooked. 

Then it’s a case of firing up a pan, cooking out the onion and garlic, adding the tomato sauce ingredients, and letting it tick away as per a pasta sauce. Season it up with salt, pepper, coriander, chilli, and vinegar as you see fit.

In another pan, heat the oil for the crispy onions and toss them in. Keep the heat on medium till they're cooked through and then crank it up a bit to get that nice toasty flavour and colour.  

While these are cooking away, coat the chickpeas in the spices and a bit of oil to get those flavours well dispersed, then roast them till crispy and golden. 

Now it’s time to put it all together. Warm up your pasta, lentils, and rice in a pan, chuck some in your bowl, and top with lashings of spicy tomato sauce, crispy chickpeas, and caramelised onions. Eat and enjoy, seasoning as you go with extra vinegar, chilli flakes, chilli oil, or whatever you please! Happy days.

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