Healthy Koshari

Koshari is a dish famous in Egypt! It uses many ingredients, so it’s perfect when you have a lot of leftovers laying around.

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The dish is vegan by default, which is amazing! There are only minor adjustments in this recipe to make it healthier than the traditional. For example, here I used brown rice and sautéed the onions or baked them instead and other tiny adjustments.

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Hope you like this recipe and remember, if you’re in Egypt, please try Koshari and Ful, of course.

I know, it looks like there are endless steps, but please, don’t get intimidated, it’s a lot easier than it seems.


Koshari

Ingredients

Koshari

  • 1 cup lentils

  • 1 cup brow or white rice

  • 2 bayleaves

  • 1 large onion

  • 3 garlic cloves

  • Ground cumin

  • Sea salt and black pepper to taste

  • 500 grams of pasta

  • 1 cup cooked chickpeas

  • Green onions for garnishing

Tomato Sauce

  • 5 garlic cloves

  • 500 grams of tomatoes - about 4-5 medium tomatoes

  • 2 tbsp tomato paste

  • Sea salt and black pepper to taste

  • 1/8 tsp of  ground cumin

Dogga

  • 3 garlic cloves minced

  • 1/4 cup white vinegar

  • 1/2 cup of water

  • Ground coriander

  • Sea salt to taste

  • 1/8-1/4 tsp of cumin

  • Black pepper

  • 1 tsp of chili sauce

Steps

Koshari

  • First, soak the lentils for 20 minutes and the rice in a different bowl then rinse

  • Dice the onions and sauté them until they become transparent or you can bake them alternatively

  • Remove the onions and cook the rice in place

  • For each cup of brown rice, add two cups of water, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until it absorbs all the water

  • Keep the lid on for the rice after it’s done cooking for ten minutes

  • Remove the lid then fluff the rice.

  • For the lentils, boil with two cups of water and the bayleaves for 20-30 minutes or until it absorbs the water 

  • Cook the pasta according to the package instructions

  • Mix all except the onions with one cup of cooked chickpeas and add the onions on top. 

Tomato Sauce

  • Blend the tomatoes

  • Heat a large pan on medium heat and saute the garlic

  • Add the tomato sauce and tomato paste with the spices and bring to a simmer

  • Cook for 20-30 minutes or until it reduces in size and becomes a thick sauce

    Dogga

  • Heat a small pan on medium heat

  • Saute the garlic then add the remaining ingredients

  • Bring to a boil then turn off the heat

To serve

  • Top the koshari with the tomato sauce and garnish with green onions. Have extra tomato sauce and dogga on the side plus some hot sauce!

  • Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from this blog