Koshari

This koshari recipe is inspired by THE ANTIQUITY AFFAIR by authors @leeykelly and @jennmariethorne !

Koshari is an Egyptian comfort food dish, and it's delicious—made with lentils, rice, pasta, chickpeas, a spiced tomato sauce, and topped with crispy onions.

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• An exciting turn-of-the-century adventure

• Stand-alone novel

• Book length: 100,000 words

• Perfect for fans of Deanna Raybourn, Laurie King, Clive Cussler, and Indiana Jones

• Includes discussion questions for book clubs

Grab your copy today!

Koshari

Total Time: 1 hours 22 minutes

Yield: 4–6 servings

Ingredients

For the Crispy Onion Topping

1 large onion, sliced into thin rings

Salt

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

½ cup cooking oil

For Tomato Sauce

Cooking oil

1 small onion, grated

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon ground coriander

½–1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 can 28-oz tomato sauce

Salt and pepper

1–2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar

For Koshari

1 ½ cups brown lentils, picked over and well-rinsed

1 ½ cups medium-grain rice, rinsed, soaked in water for 15 minutes, drained

½ teaspoon

½ teaspoon pepper

½ teaspoon coriander

2 cups elbow pasta

Cooking oil

Water

1 15-oz can chickpeas, rinsed, drained and warmed

Directions

1. Make the crispy onion topping: Sprinkle the onion rings with salt, then toss them in the flour to coat. Shake off excess flour.

2. In a large skillet, heat the cooking oil over medium-high heat, cook the onion rings, stirring often, until they turn a nice caramelized brown. Onions must be crispy, but not burned (15-20 minutes).

3. Make the Tomato Sauce: In a saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon cooking oil. Add the grated onion, and cook on medium-high until the onion turns a translucent gold (do not brown). Add the garlic, coriander, and red pepper flakes, and sauté briefly until fragrant (30–45 seconds more).

4. Stir in tomato sauce and pinch of salt. Bring to a simmer and cook until the sauce thickens (15 minutes or so).

5. Stir in the distilled white vinegar, and turn the heat to low. Cover and keep warm until ready to serve.

6. Make the Koshari: Cook the lentils. Bring lentils and 4 cups of water to a boil in a medium pot 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 only be par-cooked and still have a bite to them as they need to finish cooking with the rice.

7. Make 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 tablespoon cooking oil, salt, pepper, and coriander. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring regularly. Add warm water to cover the rice and lentil mixture. (You'll probably use about 3 cups of water.) Bring to a boil; the water should reduce a bit. 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.

8. Make the pasta: While the rice and lentils are cooking, make the pasta according to package instructions by adding the pasta to boiling water with a dash of salt and a little oil. Cook until the pasta is al dente. Drain.

9. Cover the chickpeas and warm in the microwave briefly before serving.

10. To serve, fluff the rice and lentils with a fork and transfer 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 with the remaining sauce and crispy onions.