If you haven’t made much Lebanese food this easy chickpea dip is a great way to start: Balila, a humble comfy Lebanese warm dish, made with cooked chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil or ghee and seasoned with salt and cumin powder; balila is made it with pantry ingredients and served with Arabic bread for a mouthwatering breakfast, though I would happily eat it any time of the day, naturally vegan, packed with protein, nutrient-dense and thoroughly delicious — the final result is greater than the sum of its parts.
If I had to eat one breakfast for the rest of my life it would be balila: Creamy, healthy and cheap, yes it has it all. This Lebanese style chickpeas are extremely tender and rich enough to serve as a whole meal, with some Arabic bread for dipping into the silky . Olive oil, garlic and lemon juice are the key ingredients and a pinch of cumin powder add extra depth of flavor. Watch the detailed video tutorial below.
Ingredients needed to make balila
- Dried chickpeas
- Olive oil
- Lemon
- Garlic
- Cumin powder
- Salt
- Chlies
Why will you love balila?
- It is cheap and convenient.
- It is simple in technique but complex in flavor.
- It is so satisfying that even carnivores won’t miss the meat!
- It’s a creamy and spiced with cumin powder
Canned chickpeas or dried chickpeas?
Canned chickpeas are always mealy and dry and would never deliver the correct consistency of balila; I recommend dried chickpeas, while home cooked chickpeas need planning they don’t require much work either. Dried chickpeas result in a creamier, more natural flavor and a better texture, especially for a recipe like balila.
Olive oil or ghee in balila?
If you want to keep it vegan, olive oil is your way to balila, but if you don’t mind a less healthy option, ghee is something you should consider, especially if you are using a good brand, the taste is incredible; melt ghee over low heat and add it to your balila, mix everything up and enjoy with warm Arabic bread.
Chunky Consistency!
You don’t need to to turn balila into a puree, balila is meant to have that chunky rustic look, roughly, mash it after cooking with a masher and add just a bit of the chickpea broth (don’t go heavy). It is not meant to be a soup, it should be soft enough to require no chewing and thick enough to hold its shape on a spoon.
Storage: Balila stores and reheats beautifully, it can be refrigerated for up to 4 days.
Looking for a foolproof hummus made from scratch, don’t miss our recipe:
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More Lebanese breakfast:
Balila, Hummus Balila
Description
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried chickpeas
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1 teaspoon baking soda divided between soaking and cooking
- Extra virgin olive oil to add upon serving.
- Water for soaking, and cooking the chickpeas
Instructions
- In a bowl, add the dried chickpeas and cover with twice its volume with cold water, add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda. Leave on your kitchen bench to soak overnight.
- Once the chickpeas have been rehydrated, drain the water they have been soaking in and add them to a large pot and cover with 1 1/2 liters/ 6 cups fresh water.
- Bring to a boil, remove the scum that appears on top and add the rest of baking soda. The scum will appear one more time after the addition of baking soda, remove the scum one more time. Turn down the heat and simmer gently until they’re tender – they need to be easy to mush, and almost falling apart, until the chickpeas are very soft and smush when pressed between your fingers, will take between 1 to 2 hours depending on your chickpeas (older chickpeas require more time). Add more hot water if they seem to be boiling dry.
- Crush the garlic to a smooth paste, and squeeze the lemon juice.
- Toast the pine nuts in a skillet with just a bit of sunflower oil to a golden color, or oil free toasting, if you prefer.
- In a bowl add the crushed garlic, lemon juice and cumin powder.
- Remove the chickpeas with a slotted spoon, and add them to the bowl, with just a bit of broth of the chickpeas (about 1/3 cup).
- Roughly mash the chickpeas using a masher, balila is meant to have that chunky rustic look, adjust salt to your taste preference. Transfer to a serving bowl, decorate with toasted pine nuts and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Serve it with onion rings, mint leaves, pickles and Arabic bread. Heavenly!
Video
Notes
