What is Koshary?

Koshary is Egypt’s national dish and widely popular street food. It is an Egyptian dish that originated during the mid-19th century, the dish combines Italian, Indian, and Middle Eastern culinary elements.  Vanessa Marsot of Ellora Wellness joins us in the kitchen, showing us how to make this incredible Egyptian dish.  Her cousin flew in from Egypt and joins as well!

It’s So Fun Trying New Dishes, Like Koshary!

One great thing about veganism is you can enjoy foods from all over the world, veganized.  They are always filled with flavor and usually lots of nutrients, like today’s dish!  Koshary is filled with healthy foods like rice, macaroni, lentils, spicy tomato sauce with a tangy vinegar undertone, and crispy baked onions on top. To accommodate the Ellora Vision, this delicious and rich dish was made oil-free, whole-food plant-based, and full of vegetables and legumes. It will give you tons of energy, and the chili powder will boost your metabolism. You’ll be belly dancing all night long!

The Koshary ingredients.

The finished Koshary!

Vanessa showing off her Koshary recipe.

Koshary Looks Delicious!

I am so glad I was introduced to this vegan Egyptian dish.  It looks so tasty, and I bet it smells delicious with all those yummy ingredients!  I am providing the recipe below so you can try this dish for yourself at home.  And I hope you do!  Vanessa visits us on #LunchBreakLIVE often, cooking up lots of healthy dishes.  I remember when she made this incredible blueberry chia pudding.  You might want to check that recipe out too!

Print Recipe

Koshary

Course: Main Courses, Side Dishes

Cuisine: Egyptian

Keyword: vegan

Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

• 1 cup of brown rice or sorghum
• 1 cup of brown lentils I used sprouted lentils, as they're healthier and faster to cook
• 2 cups gluten-free elbow macaroni
• 3-4 medium tomatoes chopped or your favorite tomato sauce
• 2 medium red onions
• 3-4 cloves of garlic – finely chopped or crushed
• 2-3 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 2 tsp cumin powder
• 1-2 tsp chili powder or as much as is desired
• Sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• Cook the lentils on the stove or instant pot. Make sure not to overcook – you want them slightly al dente and not mushy.
• Add the macaroni to a pot of boiling water, cook, and drain.
• Cook brown rice until perfectly fluffed, or the sorghum until it's done without being soggy.
• Make the tomato sauce: saute half an onion and all the garlic in a pan. Add the tomatoes or tomato sauce.
• While the sauce simmers – chop up the remaining onions into thick strips. Spread on a baking tray and grill on medium heat until the edges are crispy.
• Then add the vinegar, cumin, chili powder, and salt and pepper to taste to the tomato sauce. Once it's absorbed the spices, remove from heat.
• Serve by layering the rice, macaroni, lentils, and tomato sauce, then top with grilled onions.

Let’s Do This!

Let’s get cooking!  I hope you enjoyed this episode of #LunchBreakLIVE, I know I did.  Be sure to check out previous episodes for more great recipes from around the world. There are side dishes, desserts, main courses, and more!  Until next time…