The Quintessential Egyptian Dish

From what I have read, koshary (pronounced ko-shar-ri) is one of three dishes consumed regularly by Egyptians. So being the food fanatic that I am, I had to find out all about it. I searched the web and read many a tales about how much it is loved, by Egyptians and foreigners alike. Naturally I had to consult my Egyptian maid, Shirin, about it as well.

The dish doesn’t sound immediately appealing to most people. Jim made the strangest looking face when I described it to him. But trust me, koshary is one of the most delicious dishes I have tasted. The ingredients are simply prepared, but when you combine them together, something magical happens. I love eating it and could probably eat it everyday. Even Jim changed his mind after one bite, so here’s the recipe and I hope you will find time to try it out!

When you look over the recipe, don't be put off by the number of steps in this recipe, it's well worth the effort! But then, my father has said that I like to cook dishes with a hundred ingredients and steps to it. I guess he is (sorta) right about that.

There are several (not a hundred) components to the dish:
1. the pastas (macaroni noodles and spaghetti noodles)
2. lentils (Egyptians use black lentil, which are smaller than lentils in the States, but regular lentils are fine)
3. chickpeas/garbanzo beans
4. rice (preferably Egyptian rice, but short grain white rice works just as well) – instruction follows
5. tomato sauce – recipe follows
6. garlic and vinegar sauce (da’a) – a must!! – recipe follows
7. fried onions – also, a must!!

Pastas for Koshary
2 C macaroni noodles
Half of a small package of spaghetti noodles

Cook noodles separately until done (al dente).

Lentils
1-1/2 C lentil

Boil in enough water to make them tender.
Should be slightly soupy.

Chickpeas
2 C chickpeas/garbanzo beans

Soak overnight.
Boil in enough water to make them tender, but not overly tender, there should still be a bite to them. I boil them for about 25 minutes. Then drain.

Rice for Koshary
2 TBSPN butter or vegetable oil
2 C Egyptian rice, sorted and washed
2-1/2 C water
1-2 TBSPN salt
1 chicken bouillon cube (optional)

Heat oil on medium high heat and add rice.
Stir rice and butter/oil around for a few minutes.
Add water and bring to a boil, then add salt and pepper to taste and lower heat to simmer and cover.
Cook for 18 to 20 minutes.
When done, leave pot covered for 5 minutes, then fluff rice with fork.

Tomato Sauce
3 TBSPN vegetable oil
3 large cloves of garlic, crushed and minced
7 tomatoes, pureed in a blender
3 TBSPN vinegar
1/2 C water
red pepper flakes (amount depends on your preferred level of heat)
1/2 tspn cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Fry garlic in oil over medium heat until golden.
Add tomatoes and stir.
Add vinegar and water.
Bring to a boil.
Add red pepper flakes and cumin.
Cover and lower heat to simmer for 30 to 45 minutes, or until sauce starts to thicken, stirring occasionally.
Add salt and pepper to taste.

Garlic and Vinegar Sauce (Da’a)
6 cloves mashed garlic
4 TBSPN white vinegar
1/2 C water
2 TBSPN lemon juice
1 tspn cumin
1 pinch salt

Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until well mixed.

Fried Onions
3 medium sized onions, cut in half and then sliced thinly
Vegetable oil (enough to fry the onions, approximately 1/4 inch of oil in the pan).
Vinegar

Heat oil on medium heat.
Add onions in batches, careful not to overcrowd them.
Add a small amount of vinegar (be careful when adding vinegar as the oil will splatter).
Cook until onions become light brown. Remove and drain on paper towels.
**Vinegar is added to make the onions crispy during the cooking process.

After all of the components of the koshary is cooked, put everything together in no specific order. I like to start with the rice and pastas on the bottom, then sprinkle the lentils and chickpeas, and finish off with the tomato sauce. Have the da'a on the table for each person to put in amount that s/he desires. Top off with the fried onions (do not forget these, they are absolutely essential) and dig in!!!



I had proudly showed an Egyptian friend a picture of this and asked if he knew what it was. He looked puzzled and replied that he did not. When I told him it was a dish of the beloved koshary, he said "Oh! I was thrown off at first because it looks like the size of a cake! Ha, ha, ha!!!" To which I thought: very funny, smarty pants.

Our Babies

Megan, our precious little baby, has reached the tender age of six months. Her personality is definitely starting to show.

Megan smiles easily and is generally a very happy baby. She has a hearty laugh already. She gets frustrated by her toys and will holler loudly to let you know. She rolls all over the place, often from one end of the room to the other. She loves her big sister and her eyes light up when she sees Hannah. Most people say that she looks like her daddy. She loves to put everything in her mouth, especially her feet and toys. We love her dearly and can’t even remember life before Megan was born.

Hannah, our bigger baby, is now officially three and a half years old. She has adjusted to having a little sister and life in Egypt beautifully. She absolutely adores Megan and is very protective of her sister. Hannah is a fun and funny little girl.

She loves to read, play outside, play inside, and is wild about animals. In fact, whenever we eat dinner and meat is served, Hannah will ask in a very serious tone “is that animal meat dead?” I’m sure it won’t be long before she announces that she will be a vegetarian. Her questions about life are becoming more complicated and I’m finding myself having to tell her that I don’t know the answer and that we would have to look it up on the internet. She says her favorite food is chocolate, and her favorite meals go something like this: toast with Nutella for breakfast (she’s serious about chocolate); a sandwich “separated” (which means a platter of plain bread, cheese, and lunch meat) and lots of veggies (girl after her mommy’s heart!) for lunch; and chicken potpie for dinner (she’s indeed daddy’s girl).

Her current passion has shifted from Dora and the Disney princesses (thank goodness, even though she still likes them) to the Little Einsteins (not the baby Einstein series; the Little Einsteins go on adventures all around the world) and Winnie the Pooh. She first found out about Egypt through the Little Einsteins, before we even knew that we would be moving here.

Hannah is also crazy about animals of every kind, with her favorite animals being deers (in fact she calls her sister Bambi and herself Faline), snakes, and crocodiles. I often find her telling stories about animals when she is playing by herself. She has annouced that "when I get bigger, I want to have a dog, a cat, a deer, and some snakes as pets." And if you ask her what does she want to see in Egypt, she will eagerly tell you “a Nile crocodile and a rattlesnake!"

It is fascinating to watch our children grow from babies into little persons, even if this means waking up at the crack of dawn and dealing with them when they are tired, whiny, and crabby. Life just wouldn’t be the same without them.

Where Your Dreams Come True

Some of you have asked and others have wondered: What do the Rupars eat at home now that they live in Egypt? Well, almost everything that we ate back in the States. This is true because we get to shop at a commissary. Some of you don’t know what a commissary is so here’s a brief description: a grocery store run by the U.S. military stocked full of groceries available on the U.S. economy.

Our commissary is truly a godsend. I laughed when I first saw the sign in front of the store, but now I truly appreciate the meaning of it. We can get groceries that most expats would have to do without. Although the commissary is about a quarter of the size of a regular store in the U.S., it is well stocked and we can get almost everything your heart desires. Aside from basic items like meats and produce, it carries numerous items that you’d hate to do without like flour tortillas, maple syrup (the real stuff), different types of American cheeses, pickles, frozen blueberries, canola oil, Italian sausage, chocolate chips, peanut butter, and ice cream (the good stuff – Breyer’s, Bean & Jerry’s, and even Stonyfield Farm). There are even ethnic items like fresh lychees, napa cabbage, somen noodles, mochiko, sweet rice wine, and dried black mushroom.

So I can easily put together a meal everyday. We definitely know how good we have it with the commissary. We have friends posted overseas elsewhere who rely on ordering grocery items via the internet. And we have expat friends here who complain that they have to do without worchestershire sauce or cottage cheese. This luxury is one thing we surely do not take for granted. We can shop in the local markets, but sometimes I just crave having some Doritos chips with my sandwich or my Cherry Garcia ice cream.

Where Have We Been

It's been over a month since I've updated and you're probably wondering what we've been up to.

Well, a short run down would go something like this:
1. I got my first case of mummy's tummy after our trip to Ain Sukna, but if you ask me, I'd go back there in a heartbeat.
2. Jim's already been through his third or fourth case of mummy's tummy, but you know, that just comes with the territory of living in a developing country.
3. We checked out preschools for Hannah and she's happily enrolled and waiting for her first day of preschool.
4. We've been working diligently on potty training Hannah and she's thrilled to be off her diapers and even complains about having pull-ups on.
5. I've been busy making friends with mommies on playdates.
6. We are on our second maid since our first maid quit to take on full-time work. We are still trying to figure out what kind of part time help we really need.
7. We are ready for summer to be over. It's been unusually humid here in Cairo, with many days of over 50% humidity and 90+ degrees temperature.
8. I now feel comfortable driving around Maadi, the suburb where we live. The traffic is manageable in Maadi and the size of the suburb is small so I am able to rely on landmarks to find my way around.
9. Megan is quickly growing into a little person (more on this in another blog entry).
10. Jim has been to Sharm el Sheikh for work and deep sea fishing in the Red Sea for fun.