Musabaha (Warm Chickeas Bathed in Tahini Sauce)
Description
Musabaha or msabaha dip is deeply flavorful and fragrant, thanks to the chickpeas, tahini, garlic and lemon juice, looks like we are talking about hummus, well not exactly, while the ingredients are common with hummus, the technique, texture and taste is different; musabaha is simply warm cooked whole chickpeas bathed in lemony tahini sauce, it is part of the Lebanese breakfast spread alongside balila or foul medames serve it with Lebanese bread to soak up the dip with
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried chickpeas
- 2 fresh lemons, squeezed
- 2/3 cup tahini
- 1 cup water
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- Salt to taste
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda to soak the dried chickpeas with and 1 teaspoon baking soda to use while 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 of 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 mushed when pressed with your fingers, and almost falling apart, will take about 1 hour or more, depending on your chickpeas; add more hot water if they seem to be boiling dry.
- Prepare the tahini sauce: It is crucial to stir the tahini jar well before using, since the solids are settled in the bottom of the jar. Add the mentioned amount in a bowl and whisk together the crushed garlic, lemon juice and water. You will notice first that the mix will seize up a bit when mixed with other liquids, just keep whisking and it will quickly smooth out and homogenize with the other ingredients.; you should end up end up with a considerably thin paste like consistency; add just a bit of water if it looks thick to you. Adjust salt to taste preference, we don’t want a bland flavor.
- Prepare a deep serving plate, remove the warm chickpeas with a slotted spoon, (no problem if some of the the chickpeas liquid leaked with them) and transfer them to the serving plate, drizzle the lemony tahini sauce and using the back of a spoon, roughly mash the chickpeas, make sure to keep it considerably chunky (this is one of the major differences between hummus bi tahini and musabaha, the consistency, taste the salt one last time.
- Garnish: Sprinkle cumin powder and paprika (if desired) and drizzle a swirl of olive oil, garnish with fresh mint leaves or parsley; red onion is another appealing option.
Video
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