Egyptian Cuisine

Kushari

Cuisine: Egyptian Created by Tereza Shehata

Kushari is a traditional Egyptian dish made with green lentils, pasta and rice mixed together with caramelised onions. It is served with a tomato based topping and finished off with a crispy onion garnish. It is best served hot with a side of garden salad.

Ingredients

Kushari
1 cup green lentils
1 cup medium grain rice
2 cups small macaroni
2 large onions, thinly sliced
6 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp mixed spices or baharat spice mix
Salt to taste

Sauce
1 small onion, diced finely
2 cloves garlic, crushed
250g tomato paste
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup water
Salt & pepper
1 tsp baharat spice mix
Chilli flakes (optional)

Crispy Onion Garnish
2 onions, finely sliced
Oil for deep-frying
 

Preparation

Kushari
Over a moderate heat add heat 2 tbsp oil, the rice and a tsp of salt to a medium-size saucepan. Fry for 2 minutes and then add two cups of water. Stir well and bring to the boil. Once the mixture has reached boiling point, lower the heat, cover and simmer for a further 15mins or until the rice is cooked.

Wash the lentils under cold running water until the water runs clear. Add the lentils to another saucepan with two cups of water and bring to the boil. Once tender, remove from the heat, strain and set aside.

Cook macaroni separately in boiling water with a little salt and strain when al dente.

To caramelise the onions, heat remaining oil in a fry pan and add onions. Cook until soft and slightly brown.

Place macaroni In a large serving dish and coat with a little olive oil. Then add the cooked lentils, rice and onions and mix through

Sauce
Place a saucepan on moderate heat. Add oil and onion and cook until soft. Add garlic and fry to a pale brown.
Stir in tomato paste, water, salt, baharat, pepper and ground chilli. Lower the heat and leave to simmer for 15-20 mins or until sauce has reduced by half. Remove from heat.

Crispy Onion Garnish
Heat sufficient oil in a pan for frying. Add onions and fry until dark brown. Remove from oil, place on absorbent paper towel and leave to cool.

To Serve. Sprinkle with baharat spice mix. Pour over desired amount of tomato sauce and garnish with crispy onions.

 

Egyptian Restaurants

Displaying 4 of 4 Egyptian Restaurants.

Restaurant Suburb
1. De Bortoli Winery and Restaurant Dixons Creek
2. Princess Jasmine Punchbowl
3. Made In Africa Ethiopian Restaurant Moorooka
4. Cupido Carlton
   
22 May 2011 05:29 AEST
Julie
Ballarat
Simple & scrumptious way to feed the multitudes!
I made this for our Friday night dinner group of 8 and it went down very well. Served with a green salad, flat bread and dips, nuts and dates, it was an Egyptian feast. The next day I cooked up some chicken thighs, mushrooms and capsicum and tossed the left over kushari in to reheat. Very good.
26 Apr 2011 01:15 AEST
Robyn
Newtown
Authentic
I had never made kushari before but my Egyptian Mother Inlaw makes it all the time and I love it. I tried your recipe to give my husband a "taste of home" and he was so impressed that it tasted so authentic.
30 Oct 2010 10:13 AEST
Stephen
Alice Springs
Easy does it
New to cooking - an easy recipe - once you work out you need 4 saucepans at the same time!
30 May 2009 12:40 AEST
Hannah Dia
Brisbane
Yummy Egyptian dish!
Great vegetarian dish!
13 Jan 2009 04:02 AEST
Julianne
Mt Hutton
kushari
we too lived off this yummy dish whilst backpacking in Egypt. I will be making this during the week, and am sure our daughter will love it just as much we will.
29 Dec 2008 05:31 AEST
Em Omar
Bankstown
YUMMY
if you sprinkle the onions with a little salt and let it sit for a few minutes before frying they stay a lot crisper
12 Dec 2008 10:09 AEST
Sam
Brisbane
Yum - comfort food at it's best
We ate this in Egypt and I've been trying to find out the name of it since. It's the most yummy comfort food there is.

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