Recipe of the week, February eleventh, 2008… Egyptian food from Howardsvegansoap.com

Howard’s World famous Koshary!

Koshary is a dish I had the wonderful chance of trying during my travels in Egypt. It’s an amazingly simple and inexpensive dinner. It runs around twenty five American cents for a large serving in most places. It’s quite simple, but has an amazing taste! After I left Egypt, I searched everywhere for more, but never found it. After some experimenting at home, here’s what I’ve come up with. Enjoy!

2 dry cups macaroni
1 cup rice
1 cup red lentils
4-5 medium tomatoes
4 cloves garlic
1 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar
3 tablespoons cumin
fresh chili pepper to taste (optional, but it’s supposed to be spicy)
1 can chickpeas
fried onions to top
pinch of salt and pepper

Prepare the macaroni and rice according to the package. I like to use whole wheat pasta and brown rice, but in Egypt they use regular pasta and white rice.

Cook the lentils by first rinsing them and then boiling them in water for around 10-15 minutes. They should be soft but not mushy.

In a blender, mix the remaining ingredients. Take a shallow pan and heat the blended sauce over medium heat until it thickens.

Once everything is done, this is served as a layered dish in individual bowls. Add a bit of salt, pepper, and olive oil to the macaroni, rice, and lentils individually. The macaroni covers the bottom of the bowl, then enough rice to cover the macaroni, and lentils to cover the rice on top of that. Spoon on enough sauce to cover the lentils, and finally top with chickpeas and fried onions. Enjoy!