Egyptian Koshari – Egypt’s Famous Street Food Bowl

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This comforting and satisfying meal combines rice, lentils, pasta, chickpeas, tangy tomato sauce, and crispy fried onions into one incredible bowl. It sounded so unusual at first—rice and pasta together?—but one bite explains why this dish has become Egypt’s national comfort food.

Simple ingredients, bold flavors, and contrasting textures come together to create something truly unforgettable.

Ancient History and YouTuber Fusion –

There was minimal Google searching this time because apparently Jake knows an assortment of Egyptian dishes. In particular, my mouth dropped to the floor when Jake was not only describing and listing the ingredients but also what it was supposed to look like down to the fried onions on top. I proceeded to ask the seemingly absurd question of when he learned about Ancient Egypt in school. Apparently, he actually learned about it from a YouTube video and it really stuck with him.

I can see why a ten year old, specifically Jake, would remember it. It is a blend of literally all of his top favorite foods – macaroni, beans and tomato sauce. I am a little perplexed though on how Egyptian recipes, like Koshari, end up in his particular algorithm on his older brother’s hand-me-down “burner” phone from 2017. He’s stolen my phone enough times, that Mr. Beast and the daily dose of Minecraft videos is what comes through the top on my feed. Chris thinks I’ve lost my mind because I can never find my phone. For the record, 94% of the time, it’s under Jake’s pillow.

From all my researching on this dish, I found it extremely intimidating at the start. I thought this was a weird recipe for sure. We’ve procrastinated a good amount because we were a little weirded out by the dish. It seemed to be alot of ingredients that I would normally only pair together at the end of the week protesting another trip to the grocery store. This was literally the first dish however that I already had all the ingredients on hand without a store run. This dish is a national treasure, and that says alot since you know, they’ve got the pyramids. Recipes I saw to gather ideas were handed down family recipes, probably from the times of the Pharaoh. And I had this one shot…

Egypt Fun Facts

• Koshari is an evolutionary meal. It was actually likely to have originated in India and was brought to Egpyt by way of British soldiers. The tomato sauce and macaroni were added to appease the Italians coming into Egypt.
• Cleopatra, Egypt’s last pharaoh, lived closer to our time than to the building of the Pyramids at Giza.

Egypt: Koshari

Ingredients:

Directions:

You will make this meal in a number of separate layers. Choose your fate – alot of dishes and less time to make, or alot of time to make but you can almost do this as a one pot meal.

1. Make the Tomato Sauce

Using half the olive oil, saute the grated onions. When they become soft, add the garlic and 1 1/2 tsp coriander. Saute just another minute.

Add in the tomato sauce and vinegar and stir. Cover and let this simmer until the remaining parts are done.

2. Prepare the Lentil Rice

Bring about 3 cups of water to a boil and add in the rice to start cooking. Reduce to medium heat.

When the rice is about complete, gently fold in the cooked lentil beans and 1 tsp. coriander and lightly fluff.

3. Cook the Pasta

4. Crisp and fry the Onions

Heat vegetable oil to medium-high. It should be able 1/2 inch deep in your pan.

Using the two sliced onions, lightly coat them with the flour and some salt.

Place the coated onion into the frying oil and allow them to cook down. They will require frequent stirring and start to crisp in about 15 minutes. Remove from the pan.

5. Build your Koshari Bowl

Get ready to build this masterpiece!

Build in layers, first the lentil rice, next macaroni topped with tomato sauce. Spread the garbanzo beans and finally, top with the fried onions.

Tips for the Best Koshari

• Fry onions until deep golden and crispy
• Season the rice and lentils well
• Layer ingredients instead of mixing them
• Add extra vinegar sauce if you like tangy flavor

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For other rice and lentil dishes try: Sri Lanka Parippu. This one is more curry based, but way less steps! Or Colombia: Cazuela de Mariscos

File: Egypt – Koshari