How Egypt's National Dish, Koshary, Arrived In The Country

Egyptian cuisine fuses Mediterranean, North African, and Middle Eastern influences, creating a mouth-watering roster of foods. Some dishes, like the Egyptian rendition of kofta (grilled Middle Eastern-style minced meat rolls), show their roots clearly. Meanwhile, the origin of koshary, the country's national dish, tells a more convoluted culinary story.

Koshary (also spelled koshari or kushari) is the country's favorite affordable meal, with particular popularity in Cairo. The satiating vegetarian dish forms a hearty base using varying types of lentils, rice, chickpeas, and pasta (usually vermicelli and macaroni), which are all covered in an aromatic tomato sauce, and then topped with crispy onions. Enjoyed at bustling street food eateries, diners finish their servings with garlic-infused vinegar and hot sauce, forming a fast, comforting, and flavorful meal. Despite only becoming widespread in the late 20th century, the dish's beloved status even led to its 2025 inclusion on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Yet precisely how koshary emerged in Egyptian cuisine is unclear. It's most commonly cited that the food arrived by way of India, carried to the region during British imperialism. The claim is substantiated by the resemblance of the name koshary to khichri, a Hindi word for a rice and lentil dish, popular with the country's Jewish population — a drier rendition of classic Indian fare, khichdi. Others cite a prominent Italian influence by way of the pasta and tomato sauce. And koshary also resembles mujaddara, a Levantine comfort food of rice, lentils, and crispy onions. In Egypt's multi-layered cuisine, ascribing a story to food isn't always straightforward, but such complex histories only make the resulting flavors more delicious.

Like the ful sandwich (Egypt's version of falafel) or thick and vegetal molokhiyya stew, koshary is an everyday Egyptian food with a rich history. Several of its attributes point towards varying foreign influences, showcasing a medley of culinary origins. For instance, the dish's vegetarian composition follows kosher dining customs; some even suggest the Egyptian Jewish population created the food. Such a composition makes koshary accessible to the country's many religious minorities.

Furthermore, the dish's affordable combination of legumes and pasta lends a nutrition-dense mixture of protein, carbohydrates and fiber – a quality that makes the koshary a favorite of laborers. Such a practical nature likely proliferated the dish amidst Egypt's British colonial period, popularized by Indian soldiers. One of the earliest print references (in the 1853 "Journey to Egypt and the Hijaz") notes the consumption of a koshary-like meal for breakfast in Suez. Canal construction started later that decade, meaning the dish likely popularized in the area.

Yet koshary's composition is not fully South Asian. The inclusion of pasta and tomato sauce likely integrated by way of Italian immigrants in the area. The use of baharat spice, crispy onions, and pickled lemons represent distinctly Middle Eastern flavors. And the integral shatta hot sauce also emerged in the region. Koshary's components appear in cuisines spanning the Middle East and South Asia for centuries, but no one else replicates specifically the Egyptian amalgamation.