Balila, Warm Cumin Chickpeas
Balila is the plainest thing you can do with a pot of chickpeas, and in Lebanon it is breakfast: warm beans, garlic, cumin, lemon, eaten with bread while they are still steaming. Keeping the chickpeas whole rather than blending them is the entire difference from hummus, so cook them until tender but not falling apart. A spoonful of tahini at the end stands in for the oil most versions rely on, adding fat you can see rather than fat you cannot. It comes together in the time it takes to toast the cumin.
Ingredients
- 2 cups Chickpeas, cooked and warm, from about 0.75 cup dried, or two 15 oz cans, drained with liquid saved
- 2 cloves Garlic, grated
- 1 tsp Cumin seed, toasted and ground
- 3 tbsp Lemon juice, fresh
- 3 tbsp Flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 1 tbsp Tahini, to finish
Method
- Warm the chickpeas through in a splash of their cooking liquid, just to steaming. Heat opens the beans to the garlic and cumin, which is why this is served hot and not as a cold bean salad.
- Toast the cumin seeds in a dry pan until fragrant, about 1 minute, then grind them. Ground straight from the toasting pan, cumin tastes warm and nutty rather than flat.
- Take the pan off the heat and toss the warm chickpeas with the grated garlic, cumin, and lemon juice, loosening with a spoonful or two of the warm bean liquid. The residual heat softens the raw garlic's edge without cooking it to nothing.
- Swirl in the tahini, which brings the richness that a pour of olive oil usually would, using a whole sesame paste instead of a pressed oil.
- Scatter the parsley over the top and serve warm, with whole-grain flatbread for scooping.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 205 calories, 10 g protein, 9 g fiber, 20 mg sodium. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement. How these are computed.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt. How this is computed.
