Author Notes
Way back in 2006, my mother in law took my husband and myself on a trip to Egypt. We went in a travel group with some of her friends and it was an amazing, once in a lifetime trip. We sailed down the Nile, walked in the great pyramids, smoked tobacco out of a hooka in a “men only” café ,rode camels, saw king Tut’s tomb, pondered how the Sphinx lost his nose, I even did Egyptian dancing in full regalia! It was fantastic, I do however have one regret…..I never ate Koshari. Even before our trip began I became obsessed with this high carb, no meat, street food that is on every corner from Cairo to Luxor. It’s a staple for the working folks there and it’s out of this world delish. Basically, it is rice, pasta, lentils, chickpeas, fried onions, and topped with “Shatta” which is an Arab tomato based hot sauce that they put on the top. As delicious as it is, it is also filling and affordable. I also noticed at the food stands they served rice stuffed pigeons, being in the height of the “bird flu” scare we avoided the pigeon. This amazing experience (which may never happen again) inspired today’s dish, but Koshari is one of those “use every pan you have” dishes, I being the sole dishwasher in the house decided to fusion it out a bit and mix the idea of koshari with my mom’s arroz con pollo (one pot chicken and rice dish). My mom would make this growing up, it made the house smell so good, she never had an exact recipe but it always turned out great and was ample enough to serve an army. Since the Egyptian’s used pigeons to stuff with rice, I figured one pot chicken with koshari flavors would be a no fail. —Alexandra V. Jones
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Ingredients
- Shatta (Arab style hot sauce)
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6oz
can Tomato paste
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1 cup
water
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2 tablespoons
Sambal, (chili paste) you can use fresh chilies as well, but to simplify things and make sure it wasn’t too hot for the kids (some recipes insist on 15 Thai chilies!)
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6
cloves garlic
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1 cup
Cilantro
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1 cup
curly parsley
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1 teaspoon
Cumin
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1 teaspoon
salt
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1 teaspoon
ground pepper
- One-Pot chicken with pasta, rice, and legumes
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1
4-6 lbs chicken, I butterflied mine by cutting out the spine with poultry shears, I do this to get a better, more even browning, you can use a whole bird, just sear it on each side, leg portion down. The better quality the chicken, the better the dish
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1 cup
lentils
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1 cup
long grain white rice
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1 cup
broken pasta, I used angel hair, but Mexican fideos would be great, they are easy to find in most grocery stores.
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1
can chickpeas, drained and rinsed.
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1/2
medium onion, diced
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1
carrot, diced
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1
rib of celery diced
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2 tablespoons
canola oil
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1
lemon
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4 cups
Chicken stock
Directions
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Blend together "shatta" in a blender or food processor until smooth. This sauce can be made ahead and kept in the fridge in a mason jar to use as needed.
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In a dutch oven, or large pot heat canola oil on high, add chicken, seasoned with salt and pepper, brown both sides, remove chicken, reduce heat to medium high add veggies, pasta, and rice sauté till pasta is golden,
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add 1 cup of your homemade "shatta" and chicken stock, add lentils (add a bit of water if your mixture seems too thick, maybe ½ a cup), chickpeas, lemon cut in half and juiced, a bit of salt, and your browned chicken.
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In a pre-heated 350 degree oven bake uncovered 60 minutes or until chicken is crispy and fully roasted. Add a bit of lemon zest, and cilantro to the finished product and imagine the pyramids of Egypt!
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