Traditional Koshari With Chickpeas Food

EGYPTIAN KOSHARI RECIPE (THE BEST I'VE HAD)

Steps:

• Soak the dried lentils and dried chickpeas in water for 3 hours prior to making koshari.
• See note 3 if using canned chickpeas. Boil 1 cup of dried chickpeas until semi-cooked (about 45 minutes to an hour). Drain water.
• Add fresh water and 1/2 tbsp of cumin. Boil chickpeas a second time for another 30 minutes.
• Once chickpeas are cooked, squeeze 1/2 of a lime over chickpeas.
• Chop 2 medium onions into circles. Mix with flour and set aside for 30 minutes prior to frying.
• Fry in oil, preferrably sunflower oil. Using a frying spatula, remove the onions from the oil. Set onto a paper towel and set aside.
• Keep the sunflower oil to use some of it in other parts of the recipe.
• Blend 3 tomatoes, 1 bell pepper, 1/2 medium onion, and 3 garlic cloves in the food processor.
• If you would like a spicy sauce, add 1 spicy pepper.
• Add 1/2 tsp of ground cumin, 1/2 tsp of ground coriander, 1 tbsp of oil (from the fried onions), salt, and pepper. Add juice from 1 lime.
• Blend and set aside.
• Blend 1.5 medium onions in a food processor.
• In a high-rimmed stovetop pot, add 2 tbsp of oil (from the fried onions). Cook the onions on medium heat for about 15 minutes.
• Add the brown lentils (these will be about 2.25 cups after being soaked) and 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes.
• Turn down heat to medium-low. Add 2 cups of dry rice and 1 more cup of water.
• Add salt and pepper. Mix the koshari rice and cover.
• Continue to cook on medium-low heat covered until the rice has finished cooking (about 12 minutes).
• Turn off the stove and allow the rice to rest covered for 5 minutes.
• Boil water and add about 1 tbsp of salt.
• Break the spaghetti pasta in half, then break the half again making quarter-size sections of spaghetti. Break about 15 spaghetti noodles at the same time.
• Add the spaghetti pasta and elbow pasta to the boiling water.
• Cook the pasta until desired firmness.
• Drain the pasta and set it aside.
• Blend 5 medium tomatoes in a blender. Strain tomatoes into a bowl.
• Fry 2 tbsp of oil (or ghee) with 1 tsp chili flakes (or chili powder) for 30 seconds then add 5 minced garlic cloves.
• Add 2 tbsp of tomato paste and 2 tbsp of vinegar for about 30 seconds before adding the blended tomatoes.
• Add 1 tsp of cumin, 1 tsp of coriander, 1 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp sugar, and 1 tsp of ground pepper.
• Boil for about 10 minutes.

TRADITIONAL KOSHARI (WITH CHICKPEAS)

Steps:

• Cook the rice. Bring 2 cups lightly salted water to a boil and add the rice. Turn the heat down to low, cover the saucepan, and cook until the rice is done, about 40-50 minutes. Remove the rice from the heat and set aside.
• Meanwhile, cook the lentils. Bring 4 cups water to a boil and add the lentils. Cook until the lentils are soft, about 25 - 30 minutes. Drain and set aside.
• Cook the pasta. Bring 4 Celsius salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and stir until the water comes to boil again. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain and set aside.
• Cook the onions. This is actually is the longest part of the whole process, but for me anyway, is the best part. The trick is to be patient when cooking the onions. I cook them over medium-low to medium heat. You can cook the onions as little or as much as you like, but the traditional way is to caramelize them.
• Heat the olive oil over high heat. Add the onions. (I also like to add a teaspoon of salt. It helps to release moisture from the onions and breaks them down a little faster.) Turn the heat down to medium-low and cover with a piece of foil. (I find steaming the onions also helps with breaking them down.) For the first 30 minutes, stir the onions occasionally, making sure you keep them covered.
• Meanwhile, make the sauce. Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and garlic and saute until the onions are soft.
• Saute the onions and garlic.
• Add the tomatoes and lower the heat to low. Cover and simmer the sauce for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add the tomatoes.
• After 20 minutes, add in the cumin, cayenne, vinegar, and salt & pepper to taste. Set aside until the Khoshari is done.
• The finished sauce can be served warm or at room temperature.
• While the sauce is cooking, the onions will continue to caramelize. At this point, you will need to begin keeping a closer eye on the onions and stirring them more frequently.
• The onions after 1 hour 15 minutes. The browning will be accellerting quickly at this point. Keep a very close eye on the onions at this point.
• Once the onions are done, remove them from the heat, take them out of the oil, drain, and spread out on paper towels. Keep the oil.
• In the reserved oil, heat the rice, pasta, lentils, and garbanzos over medium-high heat. Add the cumin, salt and pepper to taste.
• Add in the onions and mix thoroughly. Taste for seasoning and heat through.
• Serve the Khoshari with the sauce on the side. Or, on top if you like.
• Enjoy! Sahtein!