What Mum taught me
For the taste.com.au team, Mother’s Day has always been a time to celebrate family heritage and cooking treasures from their mothers’ cookbooks
Coming home from school, I always knew when my mum was cooking up a batch of koshari, as the aroma of crispy fried onion was evident from the driveway. This classic vegan dish is served topped with caramelised onions
KOSHARI (EGYPTIAN RICE, LENTILS & PASTA) Ingredients
150g ( cup) dried red
2/
3 whole lentils (see tip) 80ml ( cup) extra virgin
1/
3 olive oil 3 brown onions, halved,
thinly sliced 330g (1 ½ cups) medium
grain white rice 1 tsp ground cumin 105g (1 cup) dried elbow
pasta 2 garlic cloves, crushed 400g can diced tomatoes 2 tsp white vinegar 125g can chickpeas, rinsed,
drained
Method
SERVES 4. PREP 10 MINS. COOK 45 MINS 1 Cook the dried red whole lentils (see tip) in a saucepan of boiling water for 25-30 minutes or until just tender. Drain. Cover to keep warm.
2 Meanwhile, heat 60ml (¼ cup) extra virgin olive oil in a separate saucepan over medium heat. Add 3 brown onions, halved, thinly sliced. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 8-10 minutes or until golden. Use tongs to transfer onion to a plate lined with paper towel. Add medium-grain white rice and ground cumin to pan and cook, stirring, over medium-high heat for 1 minute or until aromatic. Add 560ml (2 ¼ cups) water and bring to a simmer. Season with salt. Reduce heat to low. Cover. Cook for 13 minutes or until rice is tender. Set aside for 5 minutes. Use a fork to separate grains. Cover to keep warm.
3 While rice is cooking, cook pasta in a large saucepan of salted boiling water following packet directions or until al dente. Drain.
4 Heat remaining oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add garlic. Cook, stirring, for 30 seconds or until aromatic. Add diced tomatoes and 60ml (¼ cup) water then season with salt. Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes or until thickened slightly. Add vinegar and chickpeas. Cook, stirring, for a further 1 minute or until well combined.
5 Transfer the rice to a large serving plate and top with the lentils, pasta, tomato mixture and onion.
TIP Red whole lentils have a thin brown skin. Find in the international aisle at the supermarket (we used Gaganis brand).
RECIPE: AMIRA GEORGY