Friday, January 15, 2010

Vegetarian Recipe!

 This post is dedicated to Red Boots:

This is the fanciest photo of Kushari I have ever seen!! found here, I found another recipe here

Kushari usially looks like this:



I promised you a Kushari recipe and so here it is :)
Traditionally, Kushari is basically pasta, rice and brown lentils...also vermicelli, fried onions could be added. All that mixed together and red sauce added. Some people add a mix of lemon juice and vinegar so there are a lot of variations on basic elements, if I may say- but...I will post it the way I cook it okay?

You need:
1 cup lentils, washed.
1 cup rice, washed. (egyptian rice is cooked + one cup of water..I don't know if you get that..so cook rice in as many cups as you usually do- only use the water from cooking lentils-see below!)
1 cup cooked macaroni
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon of oil

Fry the onion (add salt and pepper), then add the lentils and stir until the lentils sort of change colour, add one cup of water. You will need to constantly add water so that by the time the lentils are cooked, you would have one cup "lentil water" left.

Egyptians fry rice in a bit of oil before adding water to it, not till it goes brown...but until it lumps up together in a way..I don't know if I am making sense...if I am not let me know okay? :)

Well, fry the rice and add the lentil water to it, so that when the rice is cooked it's a beige colour (I add some lentils with the water)

For the Sauce:
2 medium or large tomatoes, finely chopped.
1 tablespoon of vinegar.
tomato paste for colour (I add a tablespoon)
1 medium/large onion, finely chopped.
2-4 cloves of garlic, minced.

Heat some oil, and fry the onion, garlic then add tomatoes, then the tomato paste, stir for around 3 minutes then add some water and the vinegar, cover the sauce and leave to cook. Kushari sauce is supposed to be a bit thinner than pasta sauce.

A serving of Kushari is made of lentils, rice and macaroni mixed together, and a tablespoon or two of sauce added. I prefer not to add macaroni because that's too much carbs for me, so I end up not cooking any to begin with!

I hope you like it...oh and let me know if you need me to clarify anything? I think everyone should try this it warms you up, and is very filling!!

25 comments:

Red Boots said...

Thank you so SO much Sara - I wish I could give you a great big cuddle! I'm looking forward to cooking (and eating) this so much! xx

Yasmine said...

I LOOOOOOOOOVE Kushari :))

منة said...

OR
You can get a kushari for 3 pounds from anywhere

Claudine said...

Sounds good. I think I might try it. I have an Egyptian friend a while back and he cooks one of the best foods I've tasted.

Anonymous said...

Lol I'm not actually aa huge Madonna fan myself! I like some of her old stuff but she kinda sickens me now! Whatever happened to growing old gracefully ....or releasing a song that doesn't sound exactly like your last ten releases!!!!!
But her old 80s style was really cool so that's why I fell in love with that tee!!!
And kudos for posting a vegetarian recipe that doesn't look boring or unappetising! I might try this if I can pry myself away from meat for a day!lol!

sarah said...

mmmmm sounds deliciousss

i love it when bloggers give recipes. but then i get all sad inside cos sometimes ingredients are so hard to find in japan and then i realise i cant make some dishes

sigh

Saskia said...

I've never heard of kushari before! It looks and sounds wonderful (and I bet that it's great comforting food too!)

Have a lovely weekend xx

Maria-Thérèse ~ www.afiori.com said...

oh yummy! And it's pasta and rice together - NEVER tried that but it seems to make sense in this particular dish!

Anonymous said...

intriguing.

Nahla said...

yummme !! i love it too

The Lewicutt's said...

ohhh, I can't wait to make this!! It sounds delish!

Nikolett said...

Wow, that looks absolutely scrumptious! I'm horrible doing anything with garlic and onions, but I might be willing to endure it so I can try this out! Thanks for sharing it :)

Micaela said...

oh my goodness, i'm STARVED sara! :) that looks incredible. as a fellow vegetarian, i'm going to have to attempt to cook.


xoxo happy friday sweet girl!

Unknown said...

although vancouver is very diverse in population and in cuisine, i've never tried anyhting close to that kind of cooking! i would love to try one day... authentically first. I dont want to ruin the experience by trying to cook it myself. hahaha! ;P

Sarah D said...

Oh god, it looks really yummy. I've never heard of Kushari before. I'm so going to try to make this! xx

Nitin said...

this reminds me of what my mom's best friend used to make(she was egyptian). thanks for the recipe. bought back some good old memories. thank you. and i will be trying this one out. surprise mom with the smell of Kushari. I used to call her Ummamal. she passed away around '97. thanks again. :)

Vivi Díaz said...

It looks delicious! I wouldn't add onion as I don't like it... but everything else is.... mmm yummy!

Don't worry about the other night. I thought your sleep had come to you, and I'm not going to stop it!!

how's your weekend going?

xxx

Honey Bee said...

Yummmyyy!! I'm a complete foodie...and pretty hungry atm!
Btw, I'm hosting a little project at www.girlinthebloggingdepartment.blogspot.com and I'd love it if you'd want to join!

Mika said...

Sounds nice!!!! Mika (www.mikascrap.tyoeoad.com)

Mohammed J. said...

aaand now i'm craving Koshari!
i'll have it today!
the magic of being Egyptian...aaah i love Egypt

Laura said...

this sounds so simple and yummy sara...thanks for posting this recipe...we are always looking for simple nutritious veg meals at our house that my daughters can learn to make too.

Cait said...

I'd never seen this before but it reminds me of Jordan =)

Gracie said...

That looks soo delicious!! I will definitely have to try it one day. Thanks for the recipe. And thanks also for your beautiful comment! x

Eva said...

I may have to try that out. I haven't had anything like that before. Sounds good though.

alissa said...

this sounds so yummy! i want to try it