Egyptian Koshari with Tomato Sauce, Daqqa and Crispy Onions
Koshari is built from four layers: rice cooked with vermicelli, yellow split lentils, small macaroni and chickpeas. Over them go a vinegar-and-garlic tomato sauce, daqqa, and crisp fried onions. The ratio that works is one cup of rice to one cup of lentils, and the real trick is frying the onions slowly until they are golden brown rather than black.
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 45 min
- Total
- 70 min
- Calories
- 520
Koshari is Egypt's national dish and the country's most-eaten street food. Nothing in it is expensive or hard to find — the difficulty is entirely in the detail: the rice-to-lentil ratio, how sharp you make the sauce, and how crisp you get the onions. This version is scaled for a home kitchen and tastes like the shops.
Method
-
1
Fry the onions
Slice the onions as thinly as you can and pat them dry with a towel. Fry them in medium-hot oil, stirring constantly, until they turn golden brown, then lift them straight onto kitchen paper. Leave them a moment too long and they blacken and turn the whole batch bitter. Keep two tablespoons of the onion oil to one side.
⏱ 15 min -
2
Cook the lentils
Rinse the yellow lentils and simmer them in twice their volume of water with a pinch of salt until tender but still holding their shape, not collapsed. Drain them and keep the cooking water.
⏱ 15 min -
3
Rice with vermicelli
Fry the vermicelli in the ghee until golden, add the washed rice and stir for two minutes, then pour in the hot lentil water at a ratio of one and a half cups per cup of rice, and season. Cover and cook on low heat until the liquid has gone.
⏱ 20 min -
4
The sharp tomato sauce
Heat two tablespoons of oil and fry the garlic until fragrant but not coloured, add the tomato paste and stir for thirty seconds, then add the grated tomatoes, cumin and salt. Simmer over medium heat until it thickens. Add the vinegar and chilli at the very end and take it off the heat a minute later.
⏱ 20 min -
5
Pasta and assembly
Boil the pasta in salted water until just done and drain it. To plate: rice on the bottom, lentils over it, then pasta, then chickpeas. Pour the hot sauce over and finish with the crisp onions and the daqqa.
⏱ 10 min
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Tips that actually matter
- Pat the onion slices dry before frying — moisture is what stops them crisping.
- Add the vinegar to the sauce in the last minute only; boil it and the acidity cooks straight off.
- For a lighter plate, halve the pasta and add more chickpeas.
- Keep the lentil cooking water and use it for the rice — it gives deeper colour and flavour.
Koshari feeds six for roughly the price of one restaurant plate. Everything rests on frying the onions properly and getting the acidity of the sauce right.
People also ask
Why did my koshari turn out sticky?
Usually the rice wasn't washed enough, or the pasta sat in its own water after draining. Rinse the rice until the water runs clear, and drain the pasta immediately and rinse it under cold water.
Can I make koshari ahead?
Yes. Rice, lentils, pasta and sauce all keep separately in the fridge for up to two days. Reheat each one on its own and assemble at the table so the texture holds.
What's the difference between daqqa and the sauce?
The sauce is tomatoes cooked with garlic and vinegar. Daqqa is raw: crushed garlic, vinegar and a little water, poured cold over the plate for the sharp hit people come back for.
Cook mode
Egyptian Koshari with Tomato Sauce, Daqqa and Crispy Onions
-
1
Fry the onions
Slice the onions as thinly as you can and pat them dry with a towel. Fry them in medium-hot oil, stirring constantly, until they turn golden brown, then lift them straight onto kitchen paper. Leave them a moment too long and they blacken and turn the whole batch bitter. Keep two tablespoons of the onion oil to one side.
-
2
Cook the lentils
Rinse the yellow lentils and simmer them in twice their volume of water with a pinch of salt until tender but still holding their shape, not collapsed. Drain them and keep the cooking water.
-
3
Rice with vermicelli
Fry the vermicelli in the ghee until golden, add the washed rice and stir for two minutes, then pour in the hot lentil water at a ratio of one and a half cups per cup of rice, and season. Cover and cook on low heat until the liquid has gone.
-
4
The sharp tomato sauce
Heat two tablespoons of oil and fry the garlic until fragrant but not coloured, add the tomato paste and stir for thirty seconds, then add the grated tomatoes, cumin and salt. Simmer over medium heat until it thickens. Add the vinegar and chilli at the very end and take it off the heat a minute later.
-
5
Pasta and assembly
Boil the pasta in salted water until just done and drain it. To plate: rice on the bottom, lentils over it, then pasta, then chickpeas. Pour the hot sauce over and finish with the crisp onions and the daqqa.
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