Vegan Kamut Kushari with Chickpeas and Pasta

Khorasan wheat or Oriental wheat is commercially known as kamut. Kushari is a popular dish sold by street vendors in Cairo, Egypt.

Today, I want to introduce you to Kamut Kushari. This recipe is inspired by the one on the Bob's Red Mill package. You can stove-cook the kamut or you can pressure cook it. I have tried it both ways and they both work. I prefer the latter, and often use my Instant Pot to make this.

Where to buy Kamut? I buy this grain from Whole Foods, it is sold by Bob's Red Mill. You are likely to find this on Amazon too. I encourage you to experiment with this grain - it is truly versatile and has an interesting texture.

Ingredients

1 cup of dry Kamut (also called kamut berries)

1 cup chickpeas

1 cup dry pasta (can be elbow, fusili, penne)

1/4 cup olive oil

Minced or chopped garlic (1 tablespoon)

One large onion or 2-3 shallot, cut finely

1 28 oz can of tomato puree (fresh tomato puree is also okay, use 2-3 tomatoes)

Handful spinach leaves, cut finely

Spices:

Cayenne or red chili flakes / powder (per taste, start with less)

Salt

Turmeric

Cumin / Garam masala

Lemon
 

How to Make

Soak kamut overnight.

Stove top method:

- Bring 4 cups of water and kamut to boil. Then cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 60 minutes. Drain excess water

- Pressure cook the chickpeas, or use a chickpeas can, drain excess water

- Cook pasta as per box direction, drain.

- In a large pan, heat oil. add garlic and tomato puree and spinach leaves and cook.

- In this pan, add the cooked kamut, pasta and chickpeas, and season.

In a separate pan, crisp up some onions with EVOO or any oil. Sprinkle them on top of the dish before serving. And a little bit of lemon, to taste.

Instant Pot method:

- Add kamut and dry (uncooked) chickpeas.

- Add 4 cups of water, salt and turmeric. Start the Instant Pot 'pressure cook' function, 35 minutes

- Separately, in a large pan, add garlic, spinach and tomato puree. Cook for a bit. To the pan, add the cooked pasta and cumin / garam masala. Then turn off the gas and wait for the kamut to be cooked. Once you are able to open the Instant Pot, throw the cooked kamut and chickpeas into your pan, and adjust seasoning.

In a separate pan, crisp up some onions with EVOO or any oil. Sprinkle them on top of the dish before serving. And a little bit of lemon, to taste.