This recipe is a part of my Global Vegan Challenge where each week I research and develop a recipe from a different country in the world. Many of these recipes are veganized based off their omnivore counterparts. While not all of these recipes are a one for one what you’ll find in their country, I hope you’ll still find them delicious!
Recipe Notes
- Many koshari recipes include vermicelli in addition to macaroni. I didn’t include it because I couldn’t find it my local store, but you can include it in addition to macaroni noodles you see here if you like.
- Most recipes I saw called for using red chile powder — I assume this is likely cayenne but as I recently ran out I opted for chipotle powder instead. If you have cayenne at home, I’d op for that instead.
- In adding chile powder to your dish, opt to make it on the spicier side. When I taste tested for heat adding in my chipotle powder, it felt like it had the perfect amount of heat, but when I added the sauce at the end it didn’t have that burn at all due the volume of food. Make it a little extra hot to help make up for the ratio, or just add extra sauce.
- The sauce to food ratio in this completed dish is fairly low. If you prefer a lot of sauce I recommend doubling up the sauce portion of the recipe.
- I added rice as the final cooking step below, however be sure to soak your rice before you start cooking your lentils. You should start these steps at the same time so everything is ready at once.
- Koshari is prepared a million different ways from my research, so I did my best to do it justice. It’s a delicious, filling dish, perfect for a day you need to ‘carb load’, or a day to treat a hangover.
Koshari
Details
4 to 6 servings
40 minutes
60 minutes
Print
Ingredients
- Rice
1 cup Basmati Rice
2 cups Water
2 Bay Leaves
1 teaspoon Salt
- Lentils
1 cup Brown Lentils
2 cups Water
2 Bay Leaves
1 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- Fried Onions
1 large Onion
1/2 cup Flour
Vegetable Oil (as needed)
Salt (as needed)
- Sauce
2 pounds Tomatoes
1 cup Yellow Onion, diced
8 Garlic Cloves
2 tablespoons Cumin, ground
2 tablespoons Vegetable Oil
1 tablespoon Coriander, ground
1 tablespoon Paprika
1 tablespoon Vinegar
1 tablespoon Chipotle Powder
2 teaspoons Black Pepper, ground
2 teaspoons Salt
2 Bay Leaves
- Other
2 cans Chickpeas, drained
1 cup Macaroni Noodles
Salt, as needed
Directions
- Fried Onions
- Slice onion into half moons. Place in a bowl and generously cover in salt. Let set aside for 20 minutes or until onions release liquid.
- Once onions have released their liquid squeeze out excess liquid. Add flour to a small bowl and toss onions to coat in flour. Remove onions from flour and set aside.
- Heat up a pot with about an inch deep of vegetable oil to 375F. Add onions and fry until golden and crispy. Remove from hot oil and spread thinly on a paper towel lined plate to absorb excess oil. Set aside until ready to serve.
- Sauce
- Roughly dice tomatoes and add to blender. Liquify and set aside.
- Dice onion and mince garlic. Set aside.
- Heat up a sauce pan on medium high heat. Add vegetable oil, onion, garlic, salt, cumin, bay leaves, and coriander. Sauté until onions become translucent.
- Add liquified tomatoes to the pan along with vinegar, pepper, paprika, and chipotle powder. Simmer on low until tomato sauce thickens, or about 30 minutes. Once thickened, keep on low heat until ready to serve.
- Lentils
- Rinse lentils and add to a pot with water, salt, and bay leaves. Bring to a simmer. Allow lentils to cook for 20 to 30 minutes or until liquid is fully absorbed by lentils. Taste test once cooked and add additional salt if required.
- Rice
- Rinse rise until water runs clear then add to a clean bowl. Fill with water and allow rice to soak for 15-20 minutes.
- Once rice as soaked add to a pot with water, bay leaves, and salt. Add one ladle of your red sauce to the rice (optional only for color). Bring to a simmer and partially cover. Allow rice to cook for about 10 to 15 minutes or until rice is fully cooked. Taste test once cooked and add additional salt if required. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Macaroni
- Fill up a pot of water and add a generous amount of salt. Bring to a rolling boil then add macaroni. Cook til al dente or about 7 to 10 minutes. Once cooked drain pasta and set aside covered.
- Assembly
- Once everything is cooked you can serve layered on a plate or using a bowl. In the photo I first layered macaroni, lentils, then rice. I then flipped it upside down onto a plate and added the sauce, drained chickpeas, and fried onions on top. Enjoy hot!
