Go Back

Koshari

Tammi Kwok
Love your carbs? Well why not try this plate of carb on carb action called Koshari? As Anthony Bourdain says, "it sits in your stomach like a bag of quarters", but it's so delicious and comforting, especially in winter! Bonus points: it's vegan/vegetarian friendly too.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Servings 8

Ingredients
  

For the rice

  • 1 cup of basmati rice
  • 1 tsp tumeric* optional
  • 1 tbsp oil optional
  • 1 tbsp salt

For the Lentils

  • 1 cup dried green lentils

For the Pasta

  • 150 g dried spaghetti/macaroni
  • 1 tbsp oil

For the Chick peas

  • 400 g 1 can chickpeas, drained

For the Tomato sauce

  • 1 medium onion
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 800 g 2 cans diced tomato
  • 3 tsp baharat*

For the garlic vinegar

  • 1 cup white vinegar
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 tsp cumin

To serve

  • Hot sauce of your choice
  • Fried shallots

Instructions
 

For the rice

  • Bring a large pot of water to the boil with salt.
  • Rinse the basmati rice briefly, then place carefully into the boiling water.
  • If not cooking using the Persian method, then boil till the rice is fully cooked, and strain.
  • If cooking using the Persian method, boil till the rice grains are half cooked, with a streak of opaque white still visible in the grain.
  • Strain the rice, and in the large pot, heat the oil with a teaspoon of turmeric.
  • Add the rice back into the pot, with 2 tablespoons of water.
  • Cover with a lid, and cook over low heat for about 30min, or until the rice has finished cooking in the steam.

For the lentils

  • Cover the dried lentils in water, and soak for 30 minutes.
  • Strain the lentils, and bring a large pot of salted boiling water to the boil.
  • Boil the lentils for about 10 minutes, or till they are tender but retain a slight bite to it

For the Pasta

  • Bring a pot of salted boiling water to the boil.
  • If using spaghetti, break it up by placing it in the centre of a clean tea towel.
  • Roll the tea towel up long ways, and grasp the two overhanging sides.
  • Run the towel wrapped spaghetti on the corner of a kitchen bench till the it breaks into bite sized pieces.
  • Boil the pasta for about 10 mins, or until al dente.

For the tomato sauce

  • Finely dice the onion and garlic.
  • Saute in a wide pan over medium heat with a pinch of salt and baharat spice till softened.
  • Add the diced tomatoes and cook till reduced by half.
  • If a smoother sauce is preferred, you can blend the tomato sauce in a blender after it's been cooked.

For the garlic vinegar

  • Roughly chop garlic
  • Lightly crush the cumin using a mortar and pestle or the bottom of a clean sauce pan
  • Place into a small pot with vinegar and chopped garlic, and bring mixture to a boil.
  • Turn the heat off and let cool to room temperature to infuse.

To serve

  • Layer a large bowl or deep plate with rice, pasta, lentils, chickpeas, tomato sauce, and fried shallots.
  • Serve with hot sauce and garlic vinegar.

Notes

*To add more flavour, I cook the rice the Persian way. Traditionally, this recipe just has rice boiled in salted water, but if you'd like, you can take the extra steps for the extra flavour!
**Baharat is a Middle Eastern mix of spices. This can vary slightly depending on the supplier of the mix, so I just get whatever I like the smell of.