Kosharee is a very healthy Egyptian dish. It’s 100% vegetarian and very tasty. A mixture of lentils and rice, you’ll definitely love this dish. Oh, did I mention that it’s made of cheap ingredients?
Rice And Lentils Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup rice
1 cup brown lentils
1 big onion finely chopped
oil and salt for taste
paprika and spices of your choice (optional)
1 Maggie cube (optional)
Macaroni Ingredients:
1/2 packet macaroni
3 tablespoons tomato sauce
water sufficient for boiling the macaroni
oil
salt
Tomato Sauce Ingredients:
3 big tomatoes beaten in the blender with little water
3 tablespoons preserved tomato sauce
5 cloves chopped garlic
4 big tablespoons vinegar
1 glass of water
3 tablespoons oil
salt for taste
Kamounnia Sauce Ingredients:
4 cloves garlic chopped
1/4 glass of water
1 tablespoon cumin powder
2 tablespoons vinegar
oil
salt for taste
Onion Slices Ingredients:
1 large onion thinly sliced
shallow oil for frying
Rice And Lentils Method:
1. Clean, wash and soak the rice in water for an hour and then drain well. Clean and wash the brown lentils then boil them until nearly tender. Keep aside and don’t throw lentil boiling water. Fry the onions that are finely chopped in little oil. Add the paprika and spices of your choice. Add the rice that was washed and drained well. Add the semi-boiled lentils and stir slowly, then add the lentil water, one Maggie cube and salt. Water should only cover the rice and lentils. Wait until you see water bubbles, then cover well and cook on very low heat for 1/2 hour. Keep aside.
2. Macaroni Method:
Boil the Macaroni with 1 tablespoon oil and salt. Drain well and keep aside.
3. Tomato Sauce Method:
Stir garlic in oil for 2 min., then add the tomato juice, water, preserved tomato sauce, salt and vinegar. Cook on medium heat for 1/2 an hour and add water if needed. Don’t add water after 1/2 an hour and leave it until the sauce thickens. Keep aside. You can use part of this sauce to put on the macaroni.
4. Kammounia Method:
Stir garlic with cumin powder in oil for 3 min. Add 1/4 cup of water and let it boil for 10 min on medium heat. Add vinegar and salt according to taste. Keep aside
5. Onion Slices Method:
Cut onions into thin slices and shallow fry them until they become dark brown. Keep aside.
6. Preparing one Kosharee plate: In a dish put the lentils and rice first. Then the macaroni and finally the brown onion slices. Serve with tomato and Kammounia sauce.
Note: Sometimes Kosharee rice is cooked separately from the lentils but I prefer this method. Also, you might add some boiled chickpeas.
