On his journey to retrace his Egyptian roots, the first thing chef Michael Mina thinks about is the koshari.
“It’s as classic as it gets,” he said. “That’s street food in Egypt. It’s like risotto in Italy.”
Mina’s family moved from Egypt to Washington state when he was just 2, but he grew up eating the classic Egyptian cooking of his mom, Minerva. Even now, his mom’s koshari is the food he eats for comfort.
Now Mina is sharing her recipe in his new cookbook, “My Egypt” (Voracious 2024), which he hopes will inspire the next generation of Egyptian chefs — or anyone with an adventurous palate.
The award-winning chef sat down with us recently to share some recipes, his five favorite Middle Eastern restaurants in the Bay Area and discuss the past that led to this cookbook’s creation. Among those recipes: a watermelon and halloumi salad, a feta-brined chicken and this one for his mom’s classic koshari.
The dish takes a couple of hours to make, but a lot of the work can be done ahead, and it makes enough to serve six to eight people.
“My mom made this dish all the time when I was growing up,” Mina writes, “and it’s still one of my favorite things to eat. It’s humble food, lentils and chickpeas served on macaroni and rice together with a tangy tomato sauce and caramelized onions. But who says humble can’t be extraordinary? While there are a lot of components, many can be made ahead and you can streamline a few things based on what you have around, and how much effort you want to put in. For example, my mom skipped the macaroni to make her life a little easier, so I include it here as optional. Also, I love adding crispy fried onions for texture, but you can either skip the fried onions or buy fried onions or shallots. (They are easy to find at Asian grocery stores.) Save any extra tomato sauce to use when braising lamb shanks.”
Make the tomato sauce and lentils a day or so ahead to make it easier to assemble. You can also make and refrigerate the caramelized onions up to 7 days ahead and store them in a sealed container in the refrigerator. Let them come to room temperature while the rice cooks.
Koshari
Serves 6 to 8
INGREDIENTS
Tomato sauce:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1 yellow onion, finely diced (about 2 cups)
2 teaspoons fine sea salt, divided, plus more to taste
¼ cup tomato paste
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
28-ounce can whole San Marzano tomatoes in their juices, coarsely chopped
1 cup water
5 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
Caramelized onions:
2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced
½ cup vegetable oil
Lentils and chickpeas:
½ cup beluga lentils
2 cups water
Fine sea salt
15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 lime, halved
Vermicelli rice:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
½ yellow onion, finely diced
2/3 cup vermicelli pasta broken into 1-inch pieces
1½ cups Calrose rice or other medium-grain rice
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
2¼ cups water
½ teaspoon Aleppo pepper
1 cup elbow macaroni, cooked according to package directions, optional
Crispy onions to garnish
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley to garnish
DIRECTIONS
To make the tomato sauce, in a large saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat. Add the onion and ½ teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 6 minutes.
Add the tomato paste, cumin, Aleppo pepper and black pepper and cook, stirring often, until the paste changes from bright red to brick red, about 2 minutes. Increase the heat to medium-high and stir in the tomatoes, remaining 1½ teaspoons salt and water. Bring to a brisk simmer, then lower the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 15 minutes. You’ll have slightly more than 5 cups sauce.
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until golden, about 30 seconds. Right before the garlic browns, remove from the heat and pour in the vinegar (this stops the garlic from overcooking), swirling the pan to incorporate. Pour the garlic vinegar into the tomato sauce and stir to combine. (If you want the sauce smooth, use a hand blender to blend the tomato sauce.) The sauce can be made a day ahead and refrigerated.
To make the caramelized onions, line a plate with paper towels. Separate the onion slices into individual pieces as much as possible. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat, stir in the onions, then stop stirring and allow them to brown along the edges, about 3 minutes. Stir to redistribute the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are dark golden brown, about 15 minutes. Transfer to the paper towels.
In a medium saucepan, combine the lentils, water and a generous pinch of salt. Simmer over medium heat until cooked through but not completely soft, 15 to 17 minutes. Drain, then rinse well in cold water to stop the cooking. Drain again. In the same saucepan used to cook the lentils, add the chickpeas. Squeeze both lime halves over the chickpeas and season with a few pinches of salt, then return the lentils to the pan and warm over medium heat.
To make the vermicelli rice, heat the oil in a medium saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until it is soft and golden brown, about 8 minutes. Add the vermicelli and cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until golden, then stir in the rice and salt and cook, letting the rice toast slightly, about 2 minutes. Add the water and increase the heat to high. When the water is boiling, give the pot a stir, reduce the heat to low, cover and cook until the rice is cooked through, and the water has been fully absorbed, about 15 minutes. Uncover, fluff with a fork, and sprinkle the Aleppo pepper on top. Cover and keep warm.
To serve, put the warm lentils, chickpeas and macaroni (if using) in a large bowl. Add the rice and stir everything together with a fork, trying as much as possible not to break up the rice pieces. Taste, adding more salt if desired.
Serve koshari on a rimmed platter or in individual bowls. Spoon tomato sauce along the rim as well as a few spoonfuls on top (you don’t have to use all the sauce). Sprinkle the caramelized onions, crispy onions (if using) and parsley on top and serve extra sauce and onions at the table.
BUYING VERMICELLI
Vermicelli for rice pilaf and other dishes is sold already broken into small pieces and can be found in Middle Eastern or Indian markets labeled “Vermicelli” or “Vermicelli Pasta.” You can also take angel-hair pasta and break it up into pieces. Avoid vermicelli noodles made with rice flour or other non wheat starches, which are used in Vietnamese and other Southeast Asian preparations.
— Courtesy “My Egypt: Cooking from My Roots,” by Michael Mina (Voracious, $40).
