Leave it up to a 20 year old 'shab' to give a recipe for Koushari and run the risk that the 'rest of the world' will never fully appreciate the greatness of this dish! First, it should be mentioned that the elbow macaroni is not the typical elbow macaroni that most americans use...it is a much smaller version. Secondly, the onions should be coursely chopped and fried over med high heat in about 1/4 cup of olive oil for about 15 minutes; turning often. You could season with a little cumin and red pepper, if you like. When the onions are nice and brown, add about 3 Tablespoons of tomato paste them and dilute with about a cup of water and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Finally, on a large tray, thoroughly mix all of the ingredients together. (I think some Egyptians actually serve it in layers...but I find that is too much trouble for my large family). Put the koushari on a serving tray and serve it with a nice arabic style salad, some olives and of course, Jarjeer on the side (argula...in English. The salad is very important! Of course, don't forget salt and pepper as you cook. Thanks greeness024 for letting the rest of the world in on a great dish!
My husband is Egyptian so I decided to attempt this easy dish. It takes a lot of TIME to cook, but it's really easy. He said typically the sauce is pureed, so I blended 1 can tomato sauce, 1/2 chopped cup parsley, 1/2 cup chopped cilantro, 1 tsp of cumin, 3 cloves of garlic & 1 tbsp olive oil, then simmered it for 10 mins. I'm telling you, the flavors seem simple but the dish is AMAZING! The texture with the noodles, rice and lentils is so good. Just be sure to really brown the onions and put on top. Thanks for sharing!!
I followed another reviewer's advise and added 1/2 cilantro and 1 tsp cumin and blended the sauce in a food processor. Yum! If I hadn't added the extra seasoning this recipe would only be 3 stars. My friend who had lived in Egypt said it was very similar to what she'd eaten there. Also put lime or lemon juice on top. Yum!!!
Loved it! Reminds me of Cairo.:)
great recipe. Instead of mixing everything up I layered (more traditional that way). Really browned the onions and added cumin to the rice/lentil mixture.
good the way the recipe is written but fantastic with fire roasted tomatoes and cilantro and cumin on the side. also be very careful to FULLY brown the onions and garlic as that is really what makes this pop!
i have learnt this almost 10 years ago from an egyptian friend.she just discribed me this recipe so that i can eat and get more kilos:) its heavy in deed and delicious.should really serve with lemon coz it needs to have a little bit soury taste.great..
Great meal! We served lemons on the side and it added a lot. It's hard to believe such simple ingredients can have such a great complex flavor. We're picking a country a week to sample a meal from and this was our Egyptian meal. I'm a veg so it worked great. All four boys ate it and the 5 yr had three servings!
it is a good receipe yoy can make rice lentil macaroni seperate at the end mix some lentile with rice and layered rice at the bottom macaroni lentile inthe top then fry 1 onion put in the top and put the tomato (hot) on the top YOU MAKE THE SAUCE BY FRY CHOPPED ONION IN OIL THEN ADD TOMATO SAUCE OR PUREE TO IT THEN SIMMER TO MAKE THICK SAUCE ADD HOT PEPPER FLAKES BEFORE BOILING
I liked this but I think I liked it better than everyone else. It was a little bland so I added a little here and there to spruce it up. Had it with naan and it was good!
