Our Menu

Koshari is one of Egypt’s National dishes
made with the freshest ingredients.

Our side dishes compliment koshari
and will feature seasonal fermented vegetables,
salads, bread and more.

Bow Market, Somerville MA

Market Calendar

Koshari Mama Catering

Before placing an order, please inform your server if a person in your party has a food allergy.

Koshari

Koshari, one of Egypt’s National dishes, is a hearty layered dish made up of rice, lentils, pasta, deep fried onions, chickpeas and accompanied with our delicious sauces.

Mini (8 oz) $3.00
Small (12 oz) $5.00
Large (16 oz) $8.00
Egyptian Size (24 oz) $12.00

Our koshari can be topped with any of the following sauces or combinations:

Da’ah a raw garlic vinegar sauce
NuNu a tangy sauce with all the flavor and no heat (NEW)
El-hady a mild, tomato based garlic sauce
El-sha’ee a medium spicy tomato based garlic sauce
Shatta extra spicy tomato based garlic sauce
Narr is a fiery super hot sauce

Eggplant Dishes

Power Bowl

Roasted eggplant topped with our tomato-based sauce, lentils, chickpeas, deep fried onions and accompanied with our delicious sauces. Only offered in one size.

Power bowl: 16 oz $8.00

Eggplant Bowl

Hearty bowl of roasted eggplant in our tomato-based sauce (betingan) with rice, topped with chickpeas, fried onions and our delicious sauces.

Eggplant Bowl: 16 oz $8.00

Just Eggplant

Have a hearty dish of just our luscious eggplant with garlic and tomato sauce (betingan). Served with our freshly baked baladi bread.

Just eggplant: 12 oz $6.00

Seasonal Specials

Torli

Koshari Mama’s Torli is a family recipe made with farmers market zucchini, potato, onion, carrots, and chickpeas cooked in a savory tomato sauce. Served on rice or eaten plain. *Debuting at the Copley Square Market only.

Torli: large 16 oz $8.00

Sides

Eggplant Side

Three pieces of our roasted eggplant with garlic and tomato (betingan) sauce. You can use as a topping for your koshari or as a small side.

$2.00

Fermented Vegetables

Our seasonal topping of fermented vegetables that add a special tangy taste to your koshari. The vegetables will vary based on what is available locally.

$2.00

Balady Bread

Traditional Egyptian country bread that is a staple with every meal. Freshly baked locally by Chef Sawsan Galal of the Sally Webster Inn in Rockport, MA.

$1.00 each

The history of Koshari

There are many stories about the history of Koshari. Given Koshari’s relationship to mujaddara, (an Arabic word meaning pock-marked) a dish with roots in the tenth century, its history may be older and with more Arab roots.

The first recorded recipe for mujaddara appears in Kitab al-Tabikh, ( meaning the cookbook in Arabic) a cookbook compiled in 1226 by al-Baghdadi in Iraq. It was a meatless dish served during celebrations and commonly consumed by the poor.

Koshari is also mentioned in the diaries of the famed Moroccan traveler of the fourteenth century, Ibn Battuta. Ibn Battuta mentioned Koshari for the first time in his description about traveling to different regions of the world and added that it was his daily breakfast.

The dish also has roots in India from a rice and lentil dish called khichri. In the mid-nineteenth century the famous British traveler and translator of Thousand and One Nights, Richard Burton, identifies Koshari in the Suez during a time when Egypt was a multi-cultural country in the middle of an economic boom. In the 1940’s, macaroni was added to the dish by the Italian presence.

Over time the dish has evolved into the popular Egyptian street food known as Koshari.