Kushari
Kushari is a tradiotnal Egyption dish. This recipe isn’t 100% authentic. It is my mom’s recipe. It’s one of the first three meals I learned how to cook. It is a traditional Egyptian dish and one of my favorites.
Ingredients:
2 cups of brown lentils plus enough water to cover the lentils and cook 3/4 cooked.
4 cups of rice.
6 cups of water to cook the rice.
2 teaspoons of ground cumin.
2 teaspoons of salt.
1/4 of a teaspoon of black pepper
8 ripe tomatoes pureed in a food processor
2 teaspoons of salt
1/4 of a teaspoon of black pepper.
3 red onions, cut into long thin slices.
Olive oil to fry the onions.
Directions:
Put the brown lentils and one teaspoon of cumin in a pot and cover with water, I didn’t measure the water but it was about 3 cm above the lentils. Let come to a boil and then lower the heat and let it simmer. It took my lentils about 30 minutes to be 3/4 cooked.
When the lentils are 3/4 cooked, add the rice and 6 cups of water and 1 teaspoon of ground cumin, 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper and 2 teaspoons of salt.. I strained the lentils and measured the remaining lentil water and used it to cook the rice. So I used 1 cup of lentil water and 5 cups of water.
Let the lentils and rice come to a boil then turn down the heat and let it simmer stirring constantly to get the rice and lentils evenly distributed.
While the rice and lentils are cooking, cut the tomatoes into big pieces and place in the food processor with 2 teaspoons of salt and 1/4 of a teaspoon of black pepper. Blend until smooth.
Pour into a pot and let it come to a boil, then let it simmer until its a deeper red color. About 15 minutes.
To make the crispy golden onions, add enough olive oil to submerge the onions and petit cook on a low heat until the onions are not too dark in color, they will get darker as soon as you take them out of the oil so take them out lighter than you want them. I cooked my onions for a bout half an hour stirring constantly.
It is usually served with ditalini pasta on top. So, its a layer of rice and lentils, a layer of pasta, some tomato sauce and last but not least, crunchy golden onions.
I have to remind you that this is the way we make it and its not 100% authentic. Some add chic peas. I know they also make a dugga sauce which is fried crushed garlic in olive oil, then water, salt, cumin, vinegar, lemon juice is added to it and left to simmer for a few minutes. Its usually served on the side. I also know people who add green hot peppers to this sauce.
This is a duggga recipe that is supposed to be a copycat of a famous recipe in Egypt.:
1 table spoon of olive oil
1 table spoon of minced garlic
1 cup of water
salt and cumin
1/4 cup pf vinegar
1/4 cup of lemon juice