Cooking for Beginners recipes, structured

Koshari

Egypt's stacked plate of rice, lentils and macaroni under a sharp tomato sauce, garlic vinegar and a mountain of fried onions.

Prep
25m
Cook
1h
Waiting
10m
Total
1h 35m
Serves
6
Effort
Involved
Scale
6
Units

Method

Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.

180 g Simmer until the lentils are almost tender 20m Cook the rice with the lentils and a spoonful of the onion oil, 15 minutes covered 35m Same pan, same water. The lentils tint the rice and the starch binds the two. Stack rice and lentils, then macaroni, then sauce, vinegar and onions 5m Layered, not stirred. Every forkful should pick up a different ratio.
800 ml
250 g
1 tsp
1 1/2 tsp
3 Fry the onions in batches until dark and brittle, then drain on paper 30m Toss them in a little flour first. It dries the surface so they crisp instead of stewing.
2 tbsp
300 ml
6 cloves Simmer the sauce until it coats a spoon, 20 minutes 25m The vinegar goes in at the end. Boiled long, it loses the sharpness the dish is built around.
3 tbsp
1 tsp
700 g
2 tbsp
1 tsp
2 tbsp
1 tsp
150 g Boil until just past al dente and drain 10m Slightly soft is correct here. It is sitting under sauce, not being eaten on its own.
for the water
240 g
4 tbsp
Read left to right: ingredients merge into steps, and the rightmost cell is the last thing you do. Steps account for 2h 5m of hands-on and cooking time.

  1. Simmer until the lentils are almost tender

    20m
    • brown lentils 180 g
    • water 800 ml

  2. Cook the rice with the lentils and a spoonful of the onion oil, 15 minutes covered

    35m
    • from 1 Simmer until the lentils are almost tender
    • short-grain or Egyptian rice 250 g
    • ground cumin 1 tsp
    • fine salt 1 1/2 tsp

    Same pan, same water. The lentils tint the rice and the starch binds the two.

  3. Fry the onions in batches until dark and brittle, then drain on paper

    30m
    • onions 3
    • plain flour 2 tbsp
    • neutral oil 300 ml

    Toss them in a little flour first. It dries the surface so they crisp instead of stewing.

  4. Simmer the sauce until it coats a spoon, 20 minutes

    25m
    • garlic 6 cloves
    • olive oil 3 tbsp
    • ground coriander 1 tsp
    • passata 700 g
    • tomato purée 2 tbsp
    • chilli flakes 1 tsp
    • white wine vinegar 2 tbsp
    • fine salt 1 tsp

    The vinegar goes in at the end. Boiled long, it loses the sharpness the dish is built around.

  5. Boil until just past al dente and drain

    10m
    • small macaroni 150 g
    • salt for the water

    Slightly soft is correct here. It is sitting under sauce, not being eaten on its own.

  6. Stack rice and lentils, then macaroni, then sauce, vinegar and onions

    5m
    • from 2 Cook the rice with the lentils and a spoonful of the onion oil, 15 minutes covered
    • from 3 Fry the onions in batches until dark and brittle, then drain on paper
    • from 4 Simmer the sauce until it coats a spoon, 20 minutes
    • from 5 Boil until just past al dente and drain
    • tinned chickpeas 240 g
    • garlic vinegar 4 tbsp

    Layered, not stirred. Every forkful should pick up a different ratio.

Why it is layered

Koshari is three starches with almost no seasoning of their own, and the whole dish depends on contrast arriving in the same mouthful. Stirred together, the sauce distributes evenly and the onions go soft within a minute; stacked, the fried onions stay dry on top, the vinegar hits first, and the rice underneath is mild enough to carry it.

Flouring the onions matters more than it sounds. A thin starch coating dries the surface fast in hot oil, so the slices dehydrate and go brittle rather than slowly browning and softening.

Notes

  • Fry the onions first and use their oil in the rice — free flavour.
  • The garlic vinegar looks like an afterthought and is the defining flavour.
  • Everything keeps separately for three days and reheats better apart.

Try butter, 30 minutes, braise, or an ingredient you need to use up.