Local Faves 4 Ways | Chips OmanApr.9.2020
A staple in the streets of Cairo, Koshary is a quintessentially Egyptian dish and like many other dishes in Egypt, it’s fully vegetarian! You will find endless little shops and even big chains serving Koshary all over Egypt, and the dish is starting to make its way internationally as well.
Starting on a base of pasta and rice, the starchy meal then gets adorned with lentils, chickpeas, tomato sauce and fried onions (in Egypt we call the onions ward, meaning flowers) – to finish it all off you are free to add hot sauce or dakka. Dakka is one of those things that probably only exists in Egypt – consisting mostly of garlic and vinegar, the condiment is only ever used on Koshary and is a flavor-packed liquid that will leave you smelling like garlic FOR DAY. But we love it.
This one might not be for the faint-hearted, but it’s an incredibly DELICIOUS treat. Hamam Mahshi, or stuffed pigeon, is quite the delicacy in Egypt. I personally grew up looking forward to the days when my teita would be preparing hamam, and I could smell the spices in the air at home – YUM.
Essentially, the pigeon is stuffed with fereek – an assortment of wheat grain cooked with onion and spiced with cinnamon, cumin, pepper, nuts. The stuffed bird is cooked in the oven and then fried because when you can fry, you fry.
You may have thought you knew all the vegetables there were to know; broccoli, green beans, lettuce etc. but an edible plant you might not be familiar with is Molokhiya. Often considered the national dish of the country, Molokhiya is prepared almost as a soup.
The leaves are cut up and cooked in chicken broth along with onion and garlic. Creating a soup with the most interesting texture you’ve ever seen – thin, but almost viscous in the best way possible. Molokhiya is usually served over rice and can also be accompanied by poultry of some kind.
I feel like stuffing is such a Middle East and North African way of preparing food. We LOVE to stuff anything we possibly can, and Egyptian dishes are no exception. Some local stuffed vegetable favorites (mahshi) are zucchini, vine leaves – which unlike in Lebanese cuisine are served meatless and hot – cabbage, eggplants, peppers, and the list goes on!
The stuffing recipe is pretty standardized across vegetables; a rice and tomato sauce base, the recipe also calls for mint, parsley, and dill – the mother of all Egyptian herb trios. Boil the mahshi in a pan, filling the bottom half of it with water and VOILA, a pure explosion of taste.
Another one that when described might sound a bit iffy at first, Mombar is basically mahshi but stuffed in sheep intestines. I know it doesn’t sound like the most appetizing thing in the world but bear with me, the Mombar is friedwhich makes the outer casing crispy and chewy while the stuffing inside is still soft and it’s just UGH – sorry my mouth watered a little.
This Egyptian dish is a favorite for gatherings and always present at the table during special occasions Mombar is something you MUST try if you ever find yourself in Egypt or at an Egyptian restaurant.
You might think you know Moussa’a’a, better known under its westernized name Moussaka.. but you don’t know this dish until you’ve had it in Egypt. There exists both a vegetarian and beef version, personally, I’m a huge fan of the combination of eggplants and minced meat.
It’s a layered dish of eggplant with bell peppers and a meat-packed tomato sauce, almost like a lasagna without the noodles. If you’re really lucky, you’ll try a version which adds béchamel to the top and TRUST ME, that’s a cherry on top of an otherwise delicious cake.
For all you sweet tooth’s out there, Egyptian cuisine has much to offer in this department as well. Unique to Egypt, Meshabbek is similar to a funnel cake but better. It’s super sweet and guaranteed to fill any sweet craving you might be having.
Quite easy to make, Meshabbek is something you can whip together at home in no time! You just prepare the dough, and pipe into a deep fryer, take it out and drown in syrup – prepare for a crunchy, sweet, doughy bite of heaven.
