1. Pasta and rice
2. Tomato sauce
3. Lentils and chick peas
4. Fried onions
5. Hot sauce and vinegar sauce
o 1 ½ cups dry rice (white)
o 1 12 oz pkg spaghetti (thin) broken into 1" pieces or use sharia (which is small "hair like" spaghettis)
o 1 8 oz pkg spirals or some small cylindrical, tube-shaped pasta
Cook all the pastas and rice individually and then rinse them all very well in cold water. Once most of the water has drained off, put all of them into a big bowl, with a little bit of salt and olive oil mixed in.
o 4-5 medium tomatoes
o 1 medium onion
o salt and pepper, turmeric, cumin
o olive oil and regular cooking oil
Wash the tomatoes and cut them in half and then "scrub" them over a grater, to extract all the juice, without the skin. Or, you can put them in a food processor, provided they are peeled. Do the same with the onion (scrub or food process). Mix this together and add the spices and about 1 ½ tbsp of olive oil and 1 tbsp of cooking oil. Cook over medium heat until a low boil and then turn off. Make sure to taste to see if the sauce needs more salt, etc.
o 1 cup dry lentils
o 1 ½ cup dry chick peas (soak them overnight) or if cooked in a pressure cooker, no need to pre-soak
o salt and cumin
Soak the chick peas overnight and then place them in a pot of water and boil until almost cooked (a little crunchy)... it's fastest in a pressure cooker. Boil the lentils until almost cooked, as well. Drain and then place each separately in a frying pan with a little oil (1/2 tbsp) and fry over medium heat until "dried" and a little crunchy and slightly blackened. Should take between 15 and 20 minutes. Stir. Once cooked, season with salt and some cumin.
o 1 big onion and (or two medium onions)
o Oil for frying
Slice the onion into fairly thin strips and place in frying pan with oil. Two ways to fry them: in a deep fryer (that way takes about 5 minutes) or in oil on the stove top (about 10 minutes).
o Chili paste: any kind of hot pepper/chili paste from an Asian food store is fine
o Vinegar: Mix 1/4 cup regular white or rice vinegar with 3 cloves garlic (finely chopped), 2-3 tbsp salt, 3 tbsp cumin and 2 cups water. This is best done in a leftover wine bottle with a cork. Make sure to taste... it should be not too vinegary nor too salty. You may need to adjust the flavors.
Serve this in a big bowl with a spoon and the chili and vinegar on the side of the table. The order of layering is: pasta, tomato sauce, chick peas and lentils, fried onions and either chili sauce or vinegar (or both).
