Rice and Chickpeas: a Recipe with a Story
Rice and Chickpeas casserole is one of the best dishes of the Jewish cuisine, and there’s also a nice story behind it. Zeev Galili, our dad, writes about it’s origins and gives the only true recipe.
Every ethnic dish has a reason. The motivation behind it’s invention could be religious, historical, social, economical etc. – but there’s always a “reason” and there’s always a story.
For example, have you ever wondered how and why was Gefilte Fish (stuffed fish) invented? The fascinating answer is that separating the fish from it’s bones in Sabbath is forbidden according to the Halacha (Jewish law). This dish of sliced fish, stuffed with soft burger made out of minced fish, was originally made as a solution to this religious challenge. Read more
Hummus: nutritional facts
Hummus is a nutritional treasure. It’s not only delicious to eat, but also contain lots of vitamins, minerals, amino acids.See Also: Hummus, is it good for your Diet?
It’s hard to be decisive when talking about hummus in general. There are different kinds of hummus, in which the exact quantities of each ingredient vary. So it’s a little hard to be precise, but I can tell you: hummus is certainly good for you!
By the way: we are talking solely about homemade – or at list handmade – hummus (recipe). Industrial packaged hummus is not that healthy.
So what does hummus contain?
Arbis: the ultimate chickpea snack
Arbes is so simple to make, and so tasty, that after you know the recipe you might find yourself eating it all the time. It also has an interesting story.
Arbes (or “arbis”) is a traditional dish, originally eaten by jews on the “Shalom Zachar” feast (usually pronounced “Shulem Zucher”). When a child is born, the family hosts a ceremonial meal, where it is customary to serve the arbes.
Arbes is basically a snack – cooked chick peas with salt and pepper. Very simple, very easy to make, and unbelievably tasty.
Ironically, “Arbes” is actually the Yiddish word for “peas”, not chickpeas. And besides the “Ashkenazic” Jews (European) who gave it the Yiddish name, it is also eaten by Sephardic Jews (from North Africa and Arab countries) such as Iraqi Jews who call it “Lablabi” and add cumin to it.
This is how you make it (about 5-10 servings):
1. Soak 2 cups of chickpeas over a night.
2. Drain and wash carefully, then cook for about an half an hour.
3. Add some baking soda and cook for another 1/2-1 hour, until soft (the chick peas should be soft enough for you to squash between two fingers, but not too soft).
4. Add lots of salt and freshly grained pepper.
5. Eat.
An easy Falafel recipe
It’s very easy to make falafel. You should try that.
Falafel - as oppose to hummus (recipe) – is very easy to make, and with a little effort is needed so it would come out great. In case you don’t know what it is – falafel is the second most popular chick pea (garbanzo been) dish. A small, crunchy, chick pea burger which tastes delicious.
Of course, you can always use instant powders like the ones usually shown below:
This recipe that I’m going to share with you, is for Arabic falafel, which is very different from the Turkish falafel that you can find in some European cities (I ate some in Berlin). I think it’s much better.
The Turkish falafel is served in a toasted bread, with some salads and spicy sauces. In Israel, as well as most of the Arab countries, we eat the falafel inside a pita bread, with vegetable salad, pickles, French fries and Tahini. You should try that.
The Ingredients:
(25 falafel balls)
2 cups of dries chickpeas, soaked in water for 12 hours
Crumbs from 2 slices of white bread
5 cloves of garlic
2 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup chopped coriander
1/2 small onion
1 spoon of sesame seeds
1 teaspoon cumin spice
1 teaspoon paprika
Salt, pepper
Oil for deep frying
Preparation:
1. Wash the soaked chickpeas and put them in a food processor with the garlic, onion and spices. Grind until you get a rough moist texture. Add a little water if needed.
2. Move the mixture into a large bowl, add the rest of the ingredients and put aside, covered, for 30-60 minutes.
3. Warm the oil – it should be hot, not boiling. Add the baking soda to the mixture and knead a little.
4. Wet your hands and shape little balls (smaller then apricots). Fry until you get a deep brown shade. Serve hot!
Want more recipes? try out:
And when you are done cocking, you can always try “The Falafel king Game“…
Real Hummus recipe
Making hummus isn’t too hard, but it’s not all about having the right recipe. Our simple recipe for traditional homemade hummus, comes with a little of our hummus-philosophy.
See also:
Quick Tahini Recipe
Arbis chickpea snack
the Real Falafel recipe
[These three are all far less intellectually challenging]
.There’s nothing like good, healthy, homemade hummus, and there’s no reason for you not to try making it. Making good Hummus isn’t just about having a good recipe, though. True, there are quantities to keep and procedures to follow, but in order to make a really good hummus you must you should go into a cerain state of mind (and preferably practice it for years).
You shouldn’t, and can’t, compete with people who have been making hummus all their lives. On the other hand, you can still make a very tasty hummus the first time you try. It will taste 10 times better than any packaged hummus you can buy, and be 10 times healthier as well (read more here). With time, you will get the touch and become a hummus expert.
A hummus made right, will not make you feel heavy or bloated after you eat it. It will not make you – excuse my French – fart like crazy, either. It should go down smoothly, leaving you light and happy, and in a cheerful mood.
To solve the gas problem, BTW, you should soak the chickpeas in clean water for 10-15 hours, switch them at list once, and take off the foam that appears over the boiling water during the cooking. That’s all (and if you’re extra sensitive, put one bay leave into the cooking pot).
Also, washing the chickpeas well between every two steps of the making, will help you leave out the aftertastes.
There are lots of different hummus recipes. I came across dozens of hummus recipes, and practically tried them all. The recipe before you, is the best in my opinion. Accurate and well tested – although you should feel free to experiment. Good luck!
Ingredients
[4 extra-large bowls of Hummus]
1 cups dried chickpeas (the smallest you can find)
1/2 cup tahini
juice from 1 squeezed lemons
1-2 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon + 1/8-1/4 teaspoon baking soda
salt
olive oil
parsley
How do I make that into Hummus? (Directions)
[Brut: 10-20 hours. Net: 30 minutes]
1. Poor the chickpeas over a large plate. Go over them and look for damaged grains small stones, or any other thing you would rather leave out of the plate.
2. Wash the chickpeas several times, until the water is transparent. Soak them in clean water over night with 1 tablespoon of baking soda. Then, wash it, and soak again in tap water for a few more hours. The grains should absorb most of the water and almost double their volume.
3. Wash the chickpeas well and put them in a large pot. Cover with water, add the rest baking soda and NO salt. Cook until the grains are very easily smashed when pressed between two fingers. It should take around 1-1.5 hours, during which it is advised to switch the water once again, and remove the peels and foam which float over the cooking water. When done, sieve the grains and keep the cooking water.
4. Put the chickpeas into a food processor and grind well. Leave it to chill a little while before you continue.
5. Add the tahini and the rest of the ingredients and go on with the food processor until you get the desired texture. If the Humus is too thick, add some of the cooking water. It should be thinner than the actual desired texture.
Serve with some good olive oil and chopped parsley.
Humus in the Bible
The first documented use of chick-pees to make humus in the middle-east, is from the age of the crusaders. What few people know is that humus was also mentioned in the old testament.
On the first time Ruth and Boaz had met in Bethlehem, he offered her some humus: “And at meal-time Boaz said unto her, Come hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar” (Ruth 2-14).
This is a mistranslation of course. The original word in ancient Hebrew, is “Hometz”. Which not only sounds a bit like “Humus”, but also resembles the word “Himtza”. The Hebrew name of chick-pees.
True, “Hometz” in modern Hebrew is vinegar. But you don’t really think Boaz was so rude as to offer Ruth to dip her bread in vinegar, do you? Got to admit it’s more reasonable to think it was Humus (the credit for this idea belongs to the Israeli writer Meir Shalev).
Hummus or Humus?
This seems like the right place to start our journey: how should I spell my favourite dish: Humus or Hummus? Wiki says it’s Humus for the soil and Hummus for the food. Google finds many more occurrences of Humus though, which may suggest people prefer the single m form. But than again – there’s a popular rock band called humus, and I’m not sure if hummus is more popular in this point of time. Yet, I’m sure it’s going to.
And well, the spelling issues are irrelevant now that I’ve already registered humus101.com. That’s a self explanitory domain, I think, but in case you wondered: yes, this is a 101 blog for Humus lovers.
English, as you might have already guessed, isn’t my mother tongue. And I guess some of the people who will get here will be non-native English readers too. But what are language barriers when it comes to the love for Humus (or Hummus). Especially in the era of globalization.
Humus, in case you didn’t know, is the Arabic word for chickpeas. It is also the name of a dish, made of chickpeas, tahini (aka thina, a sesame seeds paste) and a few other ingredients (the full recipe).
In future posts, I’ll discuss the history, sociology and culinary of Humus. In this point I will only note that it is a very ancient dish, that is being eaten for at list 1000 years, and even 3000 accorsing to some (who claim it was actually mentioned in the bible).
But my main interest will be in current status of Humus on the planet. Such as places around the globe where you can eat good Humus – a subject in which those of you living outside the middle east might have more helpful information than I do.
Well, Humus is about sharing – so please share the information with the rest of us.
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