Its called Koshary / koshari / kosharee & is almost like a national dish. Costing between 1-5LE its often the only thing that the poorer locals can afford but inspite of the low cost its absolutely yummilicious.
Tour Egypt has a brilliant article on the Koshary by Heba Fatteen Bizzari from which I've posted excerpts below :
Imagine, mixing into a single dish, pasta, rice, lentil, chick peas, onions and garlic and adding to this chili sauce. The idea sounds horrific, until one tries out an Egyptian favorite called Koshary.
Koshary is a traditional Egyptian meal that consists of a strange combination of macaroni, spaghetti, rice, black lentils, chick peas, garlic sauce and a spicy tomato chili sauce, all topped with fried onions. It is sold from carts by street vendors, in restaurants or even made at home and each is considered a different taste experience.
The Koshary man stands in front of the large containers that hold each of the dish's ingredient. Usually, there is a line of people waiting to be served. Once you place your order, you stand in a row waiting to give the Koshary man your receipt that states the price of your dish. At the moment you give him the receipt the Koshary man grabs a bowl, and scoops a little of each ingredient into the bowl and sends it to your table. Each Koshary dish takes about five seconds to prepare (of course, after the ingredients are cooked).
His speed can be surprising to you.
As the Koshary man scoops, he knocks his metal spoon against the sides of the bowls, making the Koshary symphony that you won’t hear elsewhere. When the Koshary man prepares an 
order of more than four the restaurant fills with sound as if it was a rehearsal for a concert. “The restaurants of Koshary are very noisy. One sits to eat while the Koshary man practices his drums in your ears."
At the table, all the dishes are aluminum except the two glass bottles that contain two different kinds of sauce, one made from vinegar and oil, the other from spicy red pepper. “The chili is a whole new dimension for the meal. You can eat Koshary and it would taste good, but for it to be this delicious you have to use chili. That creates all the taste,” said Waleed Abdullah, an office boy.
Koshary is considered a meal that is inexpensive yet fills up the stomach of an average Egyptian. “Koshary is eaten anytime, anywhere. It’s a meal that is both affordable and delicious."
On Tour Egypt, there is a recipe by famed cook, Mary Kay Radnich.
2 comments:
and its vegetarian....thats so cool....
Yes it is. & Its a real boon for vegetarians in Egypt who do not have much choice other than the salads.
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