AI-generated image
Lablabi
Chickpea soup with bread
Tunis's garlicky chickpea soup poured over stale bread, with harissa and cumin
Lablabi is the working breakfast of Tunis, served from steaming cauldrons in tiny shops near the medina and the markets from dawn, and eaten all over Tunisia on cold winter mornings. Torn day-old bread goes into the bowl first, then hot chickpeas and their garlicky broth, and everyone dresses their own with harissa, cumin, olive oil, lemon and capers; many add a soft-poached egg that is broken through the bread. Chef's tip: let the bread soak for a minute before you stir in the harissa, so it turns soft and spoonable but not mushy.
- Total time
- 95 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the chickpeas
- 10 ½ oz dried chickpeassoaked overnight
- 1.8 litres water
- 6 cloves garliccrushed
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 ½ tsp salt
For each bowl
- 7 oz day-old crusty breadtorn into bite-size pieces
- 4 tsp harissa paste
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lemoncut in wedges
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp capers (optional)
- 4 eggs (optional)soft-poached
Shop this recipe on Amazon
Spices & pantry
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/4 doneStep 1: Drain 10 ½ oz dried chickpeas, cover with 1.8 litres water in a large pot and bring to the boil. Skim off the foam, then simmer, half covered, for 60–75 minutes until very tender and creamy inside.
75 minStep 2: Add 6 cloves garlic, 2 tsp ground cumin and 1 ½ tsp salt and simmer for 5 more minutes. The broth should taste strongly of garlic and cumin. Common mistake: draining the cooking water — it is the soup.
5 minStep 3: Divide 7 oz day-old crusty bread between deep bowls. Ladle over the chickpeas and plenty of hot broth to cover, and leave for 1 minute.
Step 4: Spoon 4 tsp harissa paste on top, drizzle with 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, squeeze over 1 lemon and sprinkle with 1 tsp ground cumin and 1 tbsp capers. Slip a poached egg from 4 eggs into each bowl if you like, break it, and stir everything together before eating.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 520 kcal
- Protein
- 22 g
- Carbs
- 66 g
- Fat
- 19 g
- Fibre
- 14 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does lablabi take?
- About 95 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 80 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Is it very spicy?
- It has some heat. Use less chilli for a milder version, or more if you like it hot.
- What can I use instead of dried chickpeas?
- Cannellini or butter beans, same amount.
- What can I use instead of garlic?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Tiyula itumBlack beef soup
Tiyula itum, 'black soup', is the pride of the Tausug people of Sulu in the far south of the Philippines, cooked for weddings, Eid celebrations and when guests come home. Beef (it is a halal, pork-free dish) is simmered with ginger, lemongrass and turmeric, then darkened with pamapa itum, a paste of grated coconut toasted until almost black and pounded with spices. The broth looks dramatic but tastes smoky, earthy and gently peppery, with heat from chillies. Serve it with plain rice. Chef's tip: toast the coconut slowly, stirring all the time, until it is very dark brown but not ashy; burnt-to-ash coconut tastes bitter and ruins the soup.
Filipino
Ful nabitSprouted fava bean soup
Sprouted beans are ladled out with their cooking liquor in Cairo homes when the weather turns cold or someone is feeling run down, and Egyptians swear by the broth as a pick-me-up. The beans are soaked and left to sprout for a few days, then simmered with onion, garlic and cumin into a light, earthy soup that is sharpened at the table with plenty of lemon. You can eat the beans with a spoon or pop them from their skins. Allow 3 to 4 days for sprouting, although the hands-on work is only about 20 minutes. People with G6PD deficiency (favism) must not eat fava beans. Chef's tip: stop the sprouting when the shoots are about 1 cm long; longer sprouts taste grassy and bitter.
Egyptian
BabboucheSpiced snail broth
After dark in Marrakech's great square, the babbouche stalls are recognisable by their steaming cauldrons and the toothpicks laid out by every bowl. Small land snails simmer in a dark broth of liquorice root, aniseed, thyme, caraway, bitter orange peel, chilli and a bundle of herbs that sellers say has fifteen ingredients, believed to soothe the stomach and warm you on a cold night. You pick the snails out with a toothpick, then drink the peppery, herbal, faintly sweet broth. At home, buy live snails sold for cooking, already purged by a reputable seller, discard any with broken shells or that do not move or retract when touched, and cook them through for at least 45 minutes. Chef's tip: keep the spices in a muslin bag; the broth stays clear and you avoid crunching on seeds.
MoroccanPerfect for:Winter warmers