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How to Make Egyptian Cuisine

How to Make Koushari - Vegetarian Lentils, Rice, and Pasta with a Spicy Tomato Sauce

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Amy Riolo
Author, Cooking Instructor, Food Writer, Culinary Consultant
http://www.amyriolo.com/  
 

Amy Riolo is an internationally recognized culinary expert specializing in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean culture and cuisine. As a cookbook author, lecturer, food historian, food writer, culinary consultant, and cooking instructor, Amy promotes her philosophy of cooking and living with both pleasure and health. Her first book, Arabian Delights; Recipes & Princely Entertaining Ideas from the Arabian Peninsula has received rave reviews (Capital Books). Her second book Nile Style; Egyptian Cuisine and Culture (Hippocrene Books) will be released in spring 2009. She is also completing The Mediterranean Diabetes Cookbook, (American Diabetes Association) which will be released in spring 2010.

Amy’s popular lectures range in topics and include everything from Middle Eastern business etiquette to the history of various cuisines. She has been an invited guest speaker for the Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Welcome to Washington International, Montgomery College, Les Dames D’Escoffier, The Baltimore-Luxor-Alexandria Sister City Committee and the Mycological Association of Washington, DC. Amy also makes frequent appearances on numerous television and radio programs both in the United States and Egypt including Fox TV, Montgomery and Fairfax County TV, Nile TV and WHYY.           

Amy currently writes the “Culture and Cuisine” feature for the Baltimore- Luxor-Alexandria Sister City Committee. She has also written articles for Cooking Light Magazine, Azizah Magazine, and the Kulanu newsletter. A graduate of Cornell University, Amy has experience in vocational, recreational, and children’s instruction, as well as corporate team building and cultural/culinary events. Her knowledge of the Italian, French, Spanish, and Arabic languages has enabled her to interpret many cultures and cuisines with intimacy and ease. She regularly teaches cooking classes at Sur la Table in Arlington, Virginia, and for private organizations.

A successful culinary consultant, Amy enjoys developing menus, recipes, training seminars, and themes for corporations, restaurants, and hotels. Amy is often asked to work as a consultant for museums where she creates menus and décor which represent the theme of new collections. In addition, she works with curators to incorporate sensory components like scent, touch, and taste into the schedule of events, allowing museum patrons to fully experience each exhibit.

Amy is a member of The International Association of Culinary Professionals, Culinary Historians of Washington, Les Dames d’Escoffier, Slow Food DC, Welcome to Washington International (where she co-chairs the Gourmet Committee), Cornell Club of Washington, the Women’s National Book Association, and the Baltimore – Luxor – Alexandria Sister City Committee (Where she is the chairperson of the Baltimore Friends of the Alexandria Library). Amy is based in the Washington DC, area and maintains a home in Egypt. She is currently organizing culinary tours to both the Mediterranean and Middle East.

How to Make Koushari - Vegetarian Lentils, Rice, and Pasta with a Spicy Tomato Sauce

In this video Chef Amy Riolo will demonstrate how to make Egyptian Cuisine including Semolina Cake with Honey Syrup, Koushari and Hibiscus Punch.

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This series: 26,706 views

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Egyptian

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Cuisine

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Food

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Egypt

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Semolina

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Cake

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Basboosa

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Koushari

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Lentils

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Hibiscus

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Punch

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Karkade

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Tomato

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Sauce

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Honey

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How to Make Koushari - Vegetarian Lentils, Rice, and Pasta with a Spicy Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

1 cup brown lentils, rinsed
3 teaspoons expeller pressed corn oil, divided
2 medium yellow onions, 1 diced, 1 thinly sliced
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups tomato puree
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
1 cup Egyptian* or other short grain rice
½ cup ditalini or mini penne pasta
2 yellow onions, sliced thinly or cut into thin rings
1 cup canned chick peas, rinsed and drained well

Instructions

1. Place lentils in a medium saucepan and cover with water.  Bring to a boil on high heat and reduce heat to medium.  Simmer, uncovered, until tender (approximately 20 minutes).  Drain and reserve lentils until needed.


2. Heat 1 tablespoon corn oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Add diced onion and sauté until soft and golden.  Add garlic and sauté until it begins to turn color.  Add tomato puree, stir, and season with salt and  pepper to taste.  Add cumin, and chili powder, stir well.


3. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add vinegar and simmer, covered for another 5 minutes. Taste and adjust salt and pepper, if necessary.  Remove from heat and keep covered until serving.


4. Fill a medium saucepan ¾ full of water and bring to a boil over high heat.  Add Egyptian rice and reduce heat to medium.  Cook until tender and drain rice. Place rice back in saucepan and cover to keep warm until serving. 


5. Fill another medium saucepan ¾ full of water and bring to a boil over high heat.  Season with salt and reduce heat to a medium.  Add pasta and cook until done. Drain well, place back in saucepan, and cover to keep warm until serving.


6. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons corn oil in a large, wide, frying pan over medium heat.  Add onions and sauté until dark golden brown.  Take off heat and stir in chickpeas. Assemble the Koushari by spooning the rice evenly into the bottom of a large, shallow serving bowl.  Scatter pasta on top of rice.  Pour sauce evenly over the top of rice and pasta.  Arrange onions and chickpeas in a pattern around the center of the dish.  Serve hot.


Tip:  Cook the lentils and make the tomato sauce one day in advance and store in the refrigerator.  On the day of serving cook rice and pasta, fry onions, assemble, and serve

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Transcripts

Amy Riolo: Hi! I am Amy Riolo. Today, I am working in the kitchen at Sur La Table in Arlington, Virginia. I am teaching you how to make Egyptian recipes. The recipe which we are making right now is called Kushari.

The ingredients which we will need to make this recipe are 1 cup black or brown lentils which have been sorted and rinsed, 3 tablespoons expeller-pressed corn oil or extra virgin olive oil, 2 medium yellow onions, one which has been diced and the other has been sliced, 6 cloves of garlic which are minced, 2 cups of tomato puree, salt and freshly ground pepper to taste, 1 teaspoon cumin, teaspoon chilly powder or crushed red pepper flakes, 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar, 1 cup Egyptian or other medium or short grain rice, cup elbow macaroni or penne pasta and 1 cup chickpeas which have been rinsed and drained. The tools which we will need are 4 medium and small saucepans, one of which will need a lid, 1 medium sized skillet, spoons and a colander.

So the first thing that we are going to do is boil water to make our lentils. So I have a little pot of water here that's coming up to a boil on high heat. Then we are going to add our lentils. Now these are brown lentils and these are the ones that are the easiest to find in the United Sates, but you can also get black lentils, if you are lucky enough to find them at an Indian or a Mediterranean store. If not, just go ahead and substitute these brown ones.

Now lentils are a great ingredient for vegetarians because they have so much protein in them, that they are really a wonderful source of protein. They date back to antiquity in Egypt. Actually, Egypt was one of the main exporters of lentils in antiquity, which that doesnt sound very impressive right now, but in those days lentils were as valuable as gold. So it was impressive back then.

I am just going to add a little bit of salt to our water. I am going to stir everything together. I am just going to let the lentils come up to a boil. As soon as they come up to boil, which they are doing right now, we can just lower our heat to about medium or medium-low, leave them uncovered. We will let them simmer for 20-30 minutes or until they are tender.

What I would like to do when I make lentils is I double the quantity that I am going to need and then keep half on hand, so that I can add them to salads, you can scatter them on top or do a variety of different things with them. Especially for vegetarians, they are great to have on hand in the refrigerator. If they are already cooked, you just save yourself that much time. So now, we will let our lentils cook. When we come back, I am going to show you how to make our spicy tomato sauce.

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