Koshari is the Egyptian street-food dish made primarily from rice, macaroni, lentils, and chickpeas.
A typical serving layers or combines rice, pasta, brown lentils, and chickpeas, then adds fried onions and a spicy tomato-vinegar sauce. The ingredients are inexpensive and filling, which helped koshari become a popular everyday meal sold from street carts, small shops, and restaurants.
Koshari is sometimes described as a uniquely Egyptian dish, but its component traditions reflect Egypt’s long history of cultural exchange. Food historians have proposed influences from South Asian khichdi, Italian pasta, and other regional cooking practices, though the exact development is not settled.
Koshari should not be confused with ful medames, a fava-bean dish that is also common Egyptian street food. Molokhia is a leafy stew, while fattah is generally based on bread, rice, meat, and sauce. Koshari’s defining feature is its distinctive combination of grains, pasta, legumes, and sauces.