Recipe 26/50 : Egypt : Koushari

I'm so happy today. I'm half the way towards my 50 From 50 In 50 challenge. Also Saji received beautiful blog awards from Julie @ erivum puliyumm. 

Coming to today's recipe Koushari,an Egyptian dish consisting of brown lentils, macaroni, rice, chickpeas and a spicy tomato sauce. Egypt has variety of National dishes and one among them is this Koushari.

Ingredients

1 cup lentils [ Recipe calls for brown, but I used the regular lentils which we use at home ]

1 cup uncooked basmati rice

1/2 cup uncooked elbow macaroni pasta

2 medium onions, diced

1 medium onion sliced lengthwise

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons oil

2 (400 g) can tomatoe puree

Crushed red chili pepper flakes, to taste

1 teaspoon cumin powder

Salt and black pepper to taste

Method

1. Cook the lentils in just over a litre of salted water.

2. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 15-30 minutes, until done, make sure u dont make paste. Lentils should retain their shape

3. In a separate bowl cook the uncooked basmati rice [ Its usually 1 rice : 2 water]

4. Cook the macaroni in a separate pot as per packet directions

5. Strain the lentils, rice and macaroni all separately when done.

6. Meanwhile, fry the lengthwise onions until golden brown and set aside.

7. In the same pan fry the rest onions and garlic till onions become soft.Add the tomatoes, chilli flakes, cumin powder salt and pepper to taste and let it bubble for 15 minutes or until thickened and sauce like.

8. Arrange the Koushuri now. Place the cooked rice, then lentils and then macaroni. On top of this pour the sauce and fried onions and serve!

I'm passing these awards to the following blogger frenz.

1. Divya @ http://edivyaraj.blogspot.com/

2. Prema @ http://www.premascook.com/

3. Ruchik @ http://ruchikrandhap.blogspot.com/

4. Bon-Appetit  @ http://mykitchenflavors-bonappetit.blogspot.com/

5. Tina @ http://kaipunyam.blogspot.com/

6. Indian Khana http://indiankhanna.blogspot.com/