Koshari

Chicken tajine with lemon

• 200 GRAM BROWN LENTILS, soaked for 12 hours
• 150 GRAM MACARONI
• 150 GRAM RICE
• 1 ONION, chopped
• 2 CLOVES GARLIC, chopped
• 1 RED CHILI, chopped
• 3 TOMATOES, peeled and chopped
• 1 TBSP TOMATO PUREE

• 4 CHICKEN LEGS
• 50 GRAM OLIVES, in halves
• 1 TBSP PICKLED LEMON PEEL, chopped
• 1 ONION, chopped
• 4 CLOVES GARLIC, chopped
• 1 TSP TURMERIC
• 1 TSP GINGER POWDER
• 1/2 TSP CUMIN POWDER
• 2 TBSP CILANTRO, chopped
• OLIVE OIL

Cook the lentils 45 minutes; cook the rice and the macaroni and plan the process so all will be ready at more or les the same time. In the mean time, stir fry the onion, pepper and garlic 15 minute on low heat. Add the tomatoes, tomato puree and pepper and salt to taste and a cup of water and simmer for 15 minutes. Mix the macaroni with the rice and lentils and put this in a bowl; spoon the tomato sauce on top.

Stir fry the onion and garlic in olive oil for 5 minutes on low heat. Add the chicken and fry until brown on all sides. Add 2 cups of water, cumin, ginger and turmeric powder and salt and pepper to taste, bring to the boil and simmer for half an hour. Add the lemon peel and onion and simmer for again a half hour. Take out the chicken and reduce the liquid on high heat to sauce thickness. Pour the sauce over the chicken, sprinkle with cilantro and serve withpilaf.

Koshary is a very popular food in Egypt and you can buy it on many street corners. Even though it is rather simple, you will need a lot of pans. Some recipes advise to cook everything together, but I would not advise that, because cooking times differ and water quantities too - you don't need a recipe for disaster after all.

This recipe reminds me strongly of macaroni with prunes from far-away Limburg in The Netherlands. Probably the cooking is related by poverty background, when people need to work hard for little money and thus prepare food with a high calorie density and a low price.

To prepare tajine, in various countries in Africa (also Morocco) they use a special covered clay pot also called "tajine. The spelling sometimes varies, tagine is also one of the ways the word is written. I used a normal pan with lid and the result was delicious. I hope for a tajine birthday present one day, though, to perfect the art.