Halabessa (Egyptian Chickpea Drink)
Abuja, Nigeria · Voir toutes les recettes
Aperçu
Halabessa is chickpeas cooked in a spiced tomato broth and served hot in a glass, with a spoon for the chickpeas and a straw for the liquid. It is Egyptian winter street food, and the way it is served is the most interesting thing about it. Nothing else is quite drunk this way. Halabessa occupies a category between a soup and a drink, it is sold from kiosks along the Nile and the Mediterranean corniche, in cafés and clubs, and the glass with both spoon and straw is standard rather than a novelty. It is also called hummus el-sham, which translates roughly as Levantine chickpeas. The setting matters to how it is understood in Egypt. The kiosks are strung with coloured lights, they play classic Egyptian music, and halabessa is what you drink standing by the water on a cold night. The source is right that eating it is as much about the occasion as the food. The broth is what carries it: bouillon, grated tomato, garlic, cumin and pepper, sharpened with lemon at the end and served with extra lemon and chilli on the side. Dried chickpeas soaked overnight are not optional, tinned ones give you no broth, and the broth is half the drink. The source's brand-specific bouillon note has been generalised.
Note de Patrimoine AFN
Halabessa, also called hummus el-sham, is an Egyptian chickpea soup served hot in a glass with a spoon and a straw. It is a winter street food sold from kiosks along the Nile and the Mediterranean coast, and in Egyptian cafés and clubs.
Ingrédients
Les mentions alimentaires sont fournies par les contributeurs à titre indicatif. Elles ne sont pas vérifiées par AFN et dépendent des produits que vous achetez. En cas d’allergie grave, vérifiez vous-même chaque ingrédient. Cuisine, allergies et votre propre jugement
Préparation
- 1
Soak the dried chickpeas in cold water overnight. The next day, drain, rinse and set them aside.
- 2
Pour six cups of water into a heavy-bottomed pan, add the bouillon and mix until it has fully dissolved.
- 3
Put in the crushed garlic, grated tomato, cumin and black pepper. Bring the broth to a gentle bubble and cook for five minutes.
- 4
Tip in the chickpeas and cook gently until they are almost done.
- 5
Mix in the tomato paste until it disperses through the broth.
- 6
Season with the lemon juice and salt, and adjust to taste.
- 7
Once the chickpeas are cooked through, take the pan off the heat.
- 8
Serve hot in tall glasses, with extra lemon or lime wedges and chilli flakes or hot sauce on the side.
Notes de l’Africook
- Use dried chickpeas soaked overnight. The broth is half the drink and tinned chickpeas produce none worth having.
- Do not skip the overnight soak. Unsoaked chickpeas cook unevenly and take far longer.
- Season the broth before the chickpeas go in, so the flavour has time to develop.
- Serve it in a glass with a spoon and a straw, which is how it is sold. It is not affectation, it is the format.
- Extra lemon and chilli on the side is standard. People adjust their own glass.
- It thickens as it stands, so loosen it with a little hot water when reheating.
Questions fréquentes
Is halabessa a soup or a drink?
Both, and the ambiguity is the point. It is served hot in a tall glass with a spoon for eating the chickpeas and a straw for drinking the broth, which is standard practice at the kiosks that sell it rather than a novelty presentation. The source's own opening line admits to not quite knowing what to call it. In Egypt it sits in the same mental category as a hot winter drink.
What does hummus el-sham mean?
Roughly, Levantine chickpeas, sham refers to the Levant, and hummus simply means chickpeas in Arabic rather than the dip. It is one of several names for the same drink. The Arabic word for the dip most English speakers mean by hummus is hummus bi tahini, chickpeas with tahini; the shortened English usage has drifted a long way from the original meaning of the word.
Can I use tinned chickpeas?
You can make something with them, but not really this. The broth is what you are drinking, and it comes from cooking dried chickpeas in a seasoned liquid, tinned chickpeas arrive already cooked in brine and contribute nothing to it. If you have no choice, use a well-made vegetable stock in place of the water and accept that the result is thinner. Soaking dried chickpeas is a matter of planning rather than effort.
When is it eaten?
In winter, and usually at night. It is one of the few genuinely seasonal Egyptian street foods, sold from small kiosks along the Nile and the Mediterranean corniche that are strung with coloured lights and playing classic Egyptian music. Standing by the water with a hot glass of halabessa on a cold evening is as much of the experience as the food itself, which is worth knowing before making it at home in July.
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