That nifty fusion of rice, pasta (including vermicelli noodles, spaghetti, and macaroni), brown lentils and chickpeas with a tomato-based salsa and fried onion topping, known as koshary, is indisputably one of the most authentic Egyptian dishes, alongside molokhiyya (a viscous green herbal soup known abroad as Jew’s Mallow).

Numerous culinary and historical studies indicate that the vast majority of ‘Egyptian’ culinary highlights actually have their origins in Ottoman, Levantine, or Arab Maghreb cuisines.

Egypt’s koshary belongs to the trio of staple national foods, along with fuul (aka fava beans) and taamiya (aka falafel: grounded and fried fava beans.) From this gut-filling assembly, koshary is definitely the most filling, spicy and flavorful – and in spite of the rise in its price it remains a cheap food alternative.

Over the past four years the average mid-sized plate of koshary in Cairo has risen in price from LE3, or less, to LE5. Inflation has hiked-up the prices of everything from pasta, rice, cooking oil, and even onions. But then again restaurants now sell their fuul and taamiya sandwiches at LE1.25 when they used to cost only 50piasters some four years ago.

Hundreds of koshary shops line the streets of Egypt’s towns and cities offering table service and plastic containers to-go, with prices usually ranging from LE3 for a small kiddy plate (aka tabba’ kemala, a smaller additional serving) to LE8 for a gargantuan bowl or foil container. These larger sizes are sufficient to feed a small family, or a large buffalo.

Many of the newer koshary shops also offer home delivery services. The standard venue is decked out with tables on which diners find little trays of salt and cumin and bottles of daqqah (colloquially pronounced as da’ah – which is a lemon, garlic, cumin and vinegar mix) and most importantly shattah (a red-brown chili pepper hot sauce with oil) for the customized seasoning of your koshary.

A jug of water, plastic/metallic cups are also found on each table to wash down the intense spoonfuls of shattah. Typically, koshary shops serve soda cans/bottles, little cups of rice pudding, and a starchier smoother version of this pudding known as mahalabiya.

And if you are on the run, numerous push-carts service hungry people ‘on the go’, usually in the more populous and rural districts of the country. Some of these carts offer koshary sandwiches although these are too heavily-loaded on carbohydrates for most people’s tastes.

In terms of its nutritional value, koshary is a good source of multi-grain carbohydrates and protein and believe it or not it is not an excessively high calorie diet.

Naturally, koshary differs from shop to shop, but in terms of average estimates a small plate has around 200 calories, around 300-500 for a medium-large sized plate, and well over 1000 calories for the super-extra-large sizes (the calorie differentials may be determined according to the proportions of ingredients used, the amount of fried onions, and the amount of cooking oil used in the preparation of the rice and pasta).

In terms of its average nutritional breakdown: around 80 per cent of the calories found in koshary come from carbs, 15 per cent from proteins, and 5 per cent fats. An ideal dish for vegans and vegetarians, it is typically cholesterol-free, since it is a legume and grain-based dish, although some chains do offer koshary with toppings of minced beef.

Below are a variety of koshary outlets to suit your different needs, tastes and budgets.