Recipes › Egyptian

Egyptian cuisine

Every Egyptian dish we have, with the recipe for each — 40 of them, each one written for this site rather than adapted from anybody else's.

By protein

Beef (12)
Lamb (2)
Egg (6)
Vegetarian (16)
Vegetables (12)
Desserts (7)
Pastes, sauces and basics (9)

By region

Every Egyptian dish

Aboukir Almonds, sourced from Egypt. A whole roasted almond is wrapped in marzipan, shaped back into an almond, and dipped in hot syrup. Egg, vegetarian.
Basbousa, sourced from Egypt. Desiccated coconut goes into the batter, and it is cut only after all the syrup has gone in. vegetarian.
Bataw, sourced from Egypt. Barley and maize rather than wheat, so it will not stretch at all and is patted out between the palms. vegan.
Duqqa, sourced from Egypt. It stays dry and crumbly, because bread is dipped in oil first and then pressed into it. vegan.
Eggah, sourced from Egypt. The egg is there to bind the filling rather than the filling to fill the egg — it is far firmer than an omelette. Egg, vegetarian.
Eish Baladi, sourced from Egypt. Dusted with bran rather than flour, and baked hot enough that it puffs into a hollow pocket. vegan.
Eish Fino, sourced from Egypt. A soft enriched roll with a thin crust, shaped long and narrow so it can be split and filled. Egg, vegetarian.
Eish Merahrah, sourced from Egypt. Ground fenugreek goes into the dough, and the loaves are spread out wide and thin with the hands. vegan.
Eish Shamsi, sourced from Egypt. The dough is left to rise in the sun, which is what the name means and what gives the sour, open crumb. vegan.
Feteer, sourced from Egypt. Always filled or topped, and the filling goes between two stretched sheets rather than into a parcel. Beef.
Feteer Meshaltet, sourced from Egypt. Served plain, and nothing is ever baked inside it — the layers are the whole dish. vegetarian.
Ful Medames, sourced from Egypt. The beans cook overnight in a narrow-necked pot, so almost nothing evaporates and they collapse in their own liquid. Egg, vegetarian.
Ful Nabet, sourced from Egypt. The beans are sprouted for two days before they are cooked at all, which changes them into something else entirely. vegan.
Gollash, sourced from Egypt. The filo is layered flat in a tray with the meat as a filling between, never wrapped round it. Beef, Egg.
Hamam Mahshi, sourced from Egypt. The cavity is filled only two-thirds, because green freekeh swells and will split a bird that is packed.
Hawawshi, sourced from Egypt. The raw meat goes inside the bread and they bake together, so the bread crisps in the meat's own fat. Beef.
Hummus, sourced from Egypt. The chickpeas are peeled, which is the only thing that makes it genuinely smooth. vegan.
Kahk, sourced from Egypt. The filling is agameya, a cooked paste of honey, ghee and nuts, made and set before the dough is touched. vegetarian.
Kamounia, sourced from Egypt. Cumin by the tablespoon, which is what the name is built on and what makes the liver edible in quantity. Beef.
Kar' Assaly, sourced from Egypt. A béchamel goes over the top, which is unexpected in a pumpkin dessert and is the whole point of this one. vegetarian.
Kaware', sourced from Egypt. Cooked until the broth sets to a jelly when a spoonful is cooled, which is the only test that matters.
Kersha, sourced from Egypt. Soaked in vinegar and salt and then parboiled twice, with both waters thrown away. Beef.
Koftet el Hati, sourced from Egypt. Laid straight onto the grill bars with no skewer at all, which is why it is shaped short and fat. Beef, Lamb.
Koftet Rozz, sourced from Egypt. The rice is crushed into granules rather than ground to powder, which is what holds the meatballs together. Beef.
Kolkas, sourced from Egypt. The taro is peeled under running water and never handled dry, because raw taro irritates the skin. Beef.
Koshary, sourced from Egypt. Four starches cooked separately and layered, never cooked together, under three separate sauces. vegan.
Macarona bil-Bechamel, sourced from Egypt. The béchamel is thinned so it sinks through the pasta instead of sitting on top as a lid. Beef, Egg.
Mesaqa'ah, sourced from Egypt. No béchamel and no meat, and it is as good cold as hot — which is the opposite of the dish it shares a name with. vegan.
Mish, sourced from Egypt. It ferments in its own salted whey for months, and the older the jar the better it is thought to be.
Mombar, sourced from Egypt. Stuffed with rice rather than meat, boiled first and then deep-fried, so the casing blisters. Beef.
Om Ali, sourced from Egypt. The pastry is baked dry and broken up before any milk touches it, so it swells rather than dissolving. vegetarian.
Qishta, sourced from Egypt. The skin that forms on scalded milk is lifted off and layered, over and over, until there is a slab of it. vegetarian.
Rozz Me'ammar, sourced from Egypt. The rice bakes in milk until a browned skin forms on top and the grains below set in cream.
Sabanekh, sourced from Egypt. The spinach goes in raw and finely chopped and cooks down into the tomato until it is a sauce rather than a vegetable. Beef.
Salata Baladi, sourced from Egypt. Everything is cut to the same small dice, and the dressing is lemon, oil and salt with nothing else in it. vegan.
Shakshouka, sourced from Egypt. The sauce is cooked until the oil separates out of it before any egg goes near the pan. Egg, vegetarian.
Ta'ameya, sourced from Egypt. Fava beans and not chickpeas, which is why the inside is bright green rather than pale. vegan.
Tamriyeh, sourced from Egypt. The semolina filling is set firm and chilled before it is wrapped, or it bursts out in the oil. vegetarian.
Torly, sourced from Egypt. The vegetables are layered in order of how long they take, rather than piled in together. Beef, Lamb.
Zalabiyeh, sourced from Egypt. A poured batter rather than a dough, which is what separates it from the squeezed fritters it resembles. vegan.

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