Description
Khadija adapted this meal from a Mediterranean cooking page and tweaked it a bit to make his own! He said: This is really carb overload but oh so yummy!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Crispy Onion Topping
- 1 large onion, sliced into thin rings
- Salt
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cooking oil
For Tomato Sauce
- Neutral cooking oil
- 1 small onion, minced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2–1 tsp crushed red chili
- 1 can 28-oz tomato sauce
- 1 tsp. of sugar
- Salt and pepper
- 1–2 tbsp. (white vinegar
For Koshari
- 1 1/2 cup brown lentils
- 1 1/2 cup medium-grain rice, rinsed, soaked in water for 15 minutes, drained
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp coriander
- 2 cups elbow pasta
- Neutral cooking oil
- Water
- 1 15–oz can of chickpeas, rinsed, drained, and warmed
Instructions
Make the crispy onion topping
- Sprinkle the onion rings with salt, then toss them in the flour to coat.
- Shake off excess flour.
- In a large pan or flat pot, heat the cooking oil over medium-high heat, and cook the onion rings, stirring often, until they turn a nice, caramelized brown.
- Onions must be crispy, but not burned (15-20 minutes).
Make the Tomato Sauce
- In a saucepan, heat 1 tbsp cooking oil.
- Add the grated onion, and cook on medium-high until the onion turns a translucent gold (do not brown).
- Now add the garlic, coriander, and red pepper flakes, if using, and saute briefly until fragrant (30-45 seconds more).
- Stir in tomato sauce and a pinch of salt.
- Bring to a simmer and cook until the sauce thickens (15 minutes or so).
- Stir in the distilled white vinegar and turn the heat to low.
- Cover and keep warm until ready to serve.
Make the Koshari
- Cook the lentils.
- Bring lentils and 4 cups of water to a boil in a medium pot or saucepan over high heat.
- Reduce the heat to low and cook until lentils are just tender (15-17 minutes).
- Drain from water and season with a little salt.
- **Note: when the lentils are ready, they should not be fully cooked. They should be only par-cooked and still have a bite to them as they need to finish cooking with the rice).
Now, for the rice
- Drain the rice from its soaking water.
- Combine the par-cooked lentils and the rice in the saucepan over medium-high heat with 1 tbsp cooking oil, salt, pepper, and coriander.
- Cook for 3 minutes, stirring regularly.
- Add warm water to cover the rice and lentil mixture by about 1½ inches (you’ll probably use about 3 cups of water here).
- Bring to a boil; the water should reduce a bit.
- Now cover and cook until all the liquid has been absorbed and both the rice and lentils are well cooked through (about 20 minutes).
- Keep covered and undisturbed for 5 minutes or so.
Now make the pasta
- While the rice and lentils are cooking, make the pasta according to the package
instructions by adding the elbow pasta to boiling water with a dash of salt and
a little oil. - Cook until the pasta is al dente.
- Drain.
- Cover the chickpeas and warm in the microwave briefly before serving.
Put it All Together!
- To serve, fluff the rice and lentils with a fork and transfer them to a serving
platter. - Top with the elbow pasta and ½ of the tomato sauce, then the chickpeas, and finally ½ of the crispy onions for garnish.
- Serve, passing the remaining sauce and crispy onions separately.
Notes
Prepared, tried, and tested by Khadija from The Recipe Hunter: Tried and Tested Recipes from Home Chefs
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 311
- Sugar: 8
- Sodium: 727
- Fat: 9
- Saturated Fat: 2
- Unsaturated Fat: 6
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 46
- Fiber: 8
- Protein: 14
- Cholesterol: 10
