Koshari: Egypt's Carb-Loaded National Dish

Walk into a busy koshari shop in Cairo and the scene is pure theatre. Behind the counter, a server grabs a metal bowl and, with lightning speed, scoops in rice and lentils, a handful of macaroni, a sprinkle of chickpeas, a ladle of spicy tomato sauce, a splash of garlic vinegar, and a crown of crispy fried onions. The bowl slides across the counter, and the next order is already being made. In seconds, you are holding Egypt's most famous dish: koshari (also spelled kushari or koshary).

What's in the bowl

Koshari is a dish of contrasts and layers. A typical bowl includes:

• Rice, often cooked with vermicelli.
• Brown lentils.
• Macaroni — small elbows or short pasta, sometimes spaghetti broken into pieces.
• Chickpeas.
• Spicy tomato sauce, flavoured with garlic, vinegar and chilli.
• Daqqa — a sharp sauce of garlic and vinegar.
• Shatta — hot chilli sauce, for those who like it fiery.
• Crispy fried onions on top.

You mix it all together before eating. The result is filling, cheap, tangy and comforting — and, conveniently, vegan, which makes it popular during Coptic Christian fasting periods.

A dish with a global history

Koshari is often described as Egypt's national dish, but its story is surprisingly international. The name and the idea of mixing rice and lentils are widely linked to the Indian dish khichdi, which British soldiers and others may have brought to Egypt in the 19th century, when the country was part of the British sphere and connected to India by trade and empire. Pasta came from Italian influence, and tomatoes from the Americas, via Europe. Egyptian cooks combined these ingredients with their own lentils, chickpeas, garlic and spices to create something new.

Food historians debate the details, but most agree that koshari as we know it took shape in Egypt in the late 19th or early 20th century, and became popular as a cheap, filling meal for workers.

The koshari shop

Koshari is above all a street and restaurant food. Some Cairo koshari shops have become famous institutions, with multiple floors and crowds at all hours. Others are small carts or neighbourhood shops. Customers order by size, and can ask for extra sauce, extra onions or extra spice. Many shops also sell roz bel laban (rice pudding) for dessert.

It is also cooked at home, where families have their own versions — some with more lentils, some with fried garlic, some with less sauce.

Food for everyone

Like ful medames, koshari is a food of the people. It feeds students, workers, families and visitors alike, and it is often one of the first dishes tourists try in Egypt. Its low cost has made it especially important for people on tight budgets, and its rise in price is sometimes mentioned in news reports as a sign of economic pressure.

Why it matters

Koshari tells a story of how food travels: rice and lentils from India, pasta from Italy, tomatoes from the Americas, and chickpeas, onions and garlic from the Mediterranean and Middle East, all brought together in a single bowl in Cairo. It is proof that a national dish can be a meeting point of the world — and still be completely, unmistakably Egyptian.

Further reading

• Anissa Helou, Feast: Food of the Islamic World (Ecco, 2018)
• Claudia Roden, The New Book of Middle Eastern Food (Knopf, 2000)
• BBC Travel — Egypt food coverage