Following the news coverage in Egypt these past few months eventually led us to an inevitable, and quite likely predictable, place: Egypt's food. Koshary is generally acknowledged to be The Ultimate Egyptian street food, and given its blend of pasta, lentils, chickpeas, and tangy tomato sauce, it's easy to see why. We found a recipe in Saveur, and had to give it a try.
There are a lot of parts to this recipe (link below). The pasta, lentils, and rice are all cooked separately - making this a great way to use up leftovers, actually. The onions are fried on their own, and then the leftover oil becomes the starting point for the spicy tomato sauce.
Each separate element gets spooned into an individual bowl in its own layer. To eat koshary, you dig your utensil through the strata, emerging with a bit of everything.
None of these elements shines on their own. The pasta, rice, and lentils are bland. The onions are a bit burnt. The sauce is overly vinegary. BUT - and this is a big "but" - they work together beautifully. The sum of the whole is truly greater than its parts. Having tasted each of those un-exciting pieces individually, I was absolutely stunned at how fantastically they came together.
A few recipe notes: in an effort to save some time, I cooked the lentils along with the tomato sauce. I also skipped frying the onions and opted for quick-caramelized burnt onions instead. This proved to be an excellent choice as the slightly smoky flavor of the onions and the depth of their caramelization worked beautifully with the other flavors in the dish.
If I ever make it to Egypt, I will most certainly try the koshary at every street vendor I find. Until then, I will count myself happy with this homemade version!
• Get the Recipe: Egyptian Koshary from Saveur Magazine
• Further Reading: Koshary by Anita Lo from Saveur Magazine
Related: Street Food Inspiration: Vietnamese Sesame Donuts
(Image: Emma Christensen)
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Comments (11)
Kusherie is indeed delicious and easy to make. I don't ever remember seeing it with chick peas though. It might still be good.
Koshary is not street food and is not good eats. It's what laborers carb up on to get through the day. Just imagine eating spaghetti with beans, fried onions and catsup, doesn't sound very hipster huh?
There is a great recipe for this in the More With Less Cookbook. I make it all the time and it is always a hit. It is wonderful with sauted sweet potatoes on the side.
Ugh, I hate koshary- when we lived in Egypt, I never learned to like it. My husband loves it, though, so he may end up trying the Saveur recipe after all! I never saw it sold as street food, but rather in little local places.
When in Egypt, though, do try the ta'amiya and the fu'ul- now THERE'S some good street food eats!
When I visited my friend in Egypt, we ate koshary! I had forgotten about this food so thanks for reminding:)
Wow Orroshi, it's so inaccurate to describe a food that one can buy from street vendors as street food. It almost detracts from someone jumping su-pa kawaii nippon bandwagon (or is your handle just a reference to the manga oishii?) calling someone else a hipster. Like, an entire website. Which caters to all sorts. Which you voluntarily chose to read and post on.
Enough with the snarking.
content: sounds good, can't wait to try it when my mouth heals.
This is the food that got me through a very long Ramadan in Cairo. My koshary guys knew me by name. It was 1-2 LE for a heaping bowl.
This looks a bit more refined, but I've been craving for years. Definitely bookmarked.
sooo good my fav. we eat this when our Egyptian friends visit
beatrix - your suggestions sent me scrambling across the 'net in search of yummies. Great tip.
OrroshiOishi - Unless you live in Cairo, I believe you may be misinformed. In my very brief looksee for koshary online I discovered multiple mentions of it being sold by food vender carts ON THE STREET. There was an aside in one post about how some restaraunts also carry it but it wasn't as good in their opinion.
Also, you are really coming off as a snob with your greater-than-blue-collar-worker attitude. You may want to rethink that attitude - after all lobster used to be 'common' food.
I've lived in Cairo, and I've eaten a lot of kushari. Kushari is not sold from street carts--it's way too complicated, because you have to have a different vat for each ingredient. Each person orders a different mix of stuff ("heavy on the lentils," "extra spicy," etc.).
But it is "street food" in that it's something simple that people grab and eat quickly to get through the day.
I have to chime in again. I lived in Cairo for seven years. I just went back to visit last year as well. I never remember seeing kushari sold as street food like you would see a hot dog or pretzel here. It is just hard to eat on the go. There is sauces and a pile of carbs and beans. You can easily find it in the cafes though. Given that, I wouldn't call it a common street food. My family would also like to eat it with some yogurt as well as the sauce recipe given.