This is usually made with dried chickpeas, that have been well cooked and seasoned in the process, slightly mashed, stirred with the stuff of hummus, dressed with oil, nuts, seeds, spices and served a but warm, often for breakfast. Appears to be a rustic dish that can be made with whatever is available.

I came across musabaha while trying to find something I could put together from the very limited ingredients in my makeshift kitchen that is spread between cupboards in the laundry, studio and linen closet while the entire living/kitchen area is in the hands of builders. I’m trying to use up things so I can start afresh when the new kitchen is ready for occupation.

Also having cooking utensils that consist of a portable induction cooker, a countertop steam oven and an air fryer, recipes need to be simplified.

So with one tin of chickpeas, some tahini, limes, olive oil and nuts and herbs I got something pretty good.

 

A LOOSE VERSION OF MUSABAHA

Ingredients

Overcooking the tinned chickpeas

  • 1 tin cooked chickpeas
  • Bay leaf or 2
  • 1 tsp salt
  • Sprig rosemary
  • Sprig thyme
  • Half lemon cut into segments

The sauce

  • Juice of a lemon or lime – quantity to taste
  • 2 tbs tahini
  • 1 tbsp minced garlic or a couple of cloves of fresh garlic
  • 1 tsp ras el hanout or any combination of middle eastern spices (optional – tastes great without any)
  • Liquid from cooking the ti ned chickpeas in their own juice

Serving

  • Toasted pine nuts, sunflower seeds, chopped almonds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, (even bagel seasoning) ground, dried limes
  • paprika, chilli flakes, crispy fried spring onions, parsley, chopped fresh herbs
  • Extra virgin olive oil

Method – Just getting to know each other

Steam oven

  1. Put the chickpeas and their juice, bayleaves, chopped lemon or lime, salt, thyme, rosemary in a small baking tray, adding a little bit of water if necessary to get them half covered and cook at 100°C with 100% steam for at least 1 hour, they need to be fork tender, easy to squish.
  2. Turn off the oven and leave to cool.

This could easily be done in in a covered poton a slow simmer or even a slow cooker or rice cooker.

Sauce

  1. In a bowl, stir the tahini, lemon juice and garlic together, it will thicken so collect some of the liquid from the cooked chickpeas and stir it in. Aim for something like yoghurt or just a little thicker. It won’t really matter, it will be just different with a different liquid consistency.
  2. Taste and balance the salt and lemon juice, add spices if using.
  3. Add a few large spoons of the cooked chickpeas and squish them fairly well while stirring.

  4. Add the rest of the chickpeas adding extra liquid if required. I like to squish the enough to break each one. Stir lightly until covered with the sauce.

Serve

Best served warm, if it has been stored in the fridge a quick zap in the microwave revives it.

Spread on a flat dish, put in a swirl that leaves a trough and pour in the olive oil.

Sprinkle sections with the various toppings. This looks fabulous for serving but gets pretty much amalgamated in a short time on the table.

Serve with fried triangles of flat bread, toasted roughly torn up chunks of bread or anything that you have around.

This is so good.