Musabaha Recipe

If you love hummus, you probably also love musabaha. Let me introduce you to this fantastic dish. When hummus is the smooth meze, musabaha is its rustic cousin. It’s made from the same ingredients, but instead of turning the chickpeas into a smooth paste, you keep them chunky. While having a similar taste profile to hummus, the texture makes a difference. Musabaha is a traditional Lebanese recipe and it is often enjoyed for breakfast with vegetables and pita bread. The name musabaha translates to something like “swimming”, referring to the chickpeas swimming in delicious juices. It’s a fantastic breakfast! 

Also, this musabaha recipe is super simple to prepare and full of healthy ingredients, featuring chickpeas, tahini, extra-virgin olive oil, and several delicious condiments. Let’s jump right into this musabaha recipe and make ourselves a delicious breakfast!

Ingredients you need for this Musabaha Recipe: 

• Chickpeas
• Lemon juice
• Olive oil
• Tahini
• Salt to season
• Optional toppings: 
• Almonds
• Olive oil
• Paprika powder
• Cumin 
• Sumac
• Parsley
• Garlic
• Chilli

The key ingredients you need for making musabaha are just a few. Chickpeas, lemon juice, extra-virgin olive oil, tahini and some salt are all you need. You can use dried or canned chickpeas for this recipe. When using dried chickpeas, soak them overnight before preparing this recipe and factor in a bit more cooking time. Otherwise, canned chickpeas are perfectly fine as well, and you can use the aquafaba from the can too. 

The plain musabaha is already great, but flavourful toppings bring the dish to the next level. I like to go all in with fried almonds with lots of delicious spices, as well as fresh parsley. The topping and taste will be quite similar to hummus fatteh. But feel free to use any toppings you like!

How to make this Musabaha Recipe: 

Making the plain musabaha

Firstly, let’s get our chickpeas ready. When using dried chickpeas, soak the chickpeas overnight. Discard that water, and add the soaked chickpeas to a pot. Top them with water until fully submerged, and simmer them until soft. You can test their consistency with a fork. Once you can easily mash them by pressing them with a fork, they are good to go. 

If using canned chickpeas, add them together with the liquid from the can to your pot. Add additional water until the chickpeas are submerged. Simmer the chickpeas for about half an hour until you can easily mash them with a fork. The liquid should have nicely reduced.

Once the chickpeas are ready, add the lemon juice, ⅓ of the olive oil, tahini and some salt. Be careful: When you use canned chickpeas, the aquafaba is sometimes salty. Check the taste of the reduced liquid before adding additional salt to your chickpeas. 

After adding the ingredients, break up the chickpeas with a fork or a masher. I like to break them up enough to bind the residual liquid so it turns into a creamy paste. But I like to leave most chickpeas whole. We want that nice texture! 

Once satisfied with the consistency, give the musabaha a last check for seasoning. Now, the only thing left to do is sort our delicious toppings. 

Making the Toppings:

For the toppings, I like to roughly chop the almonds and mince the garlic and the chilli finely. Heat some olive oil to low-medium heat in the pan. We don’t want to overheat the olive oil. Gently fry the almonds together with the chilli. Once they have developed some colour, add the garlic and spices.

Fry for another minute or two before topping the musabaha with this delicious mix. Be sure to add the delicious, spice-infused hot olive oil as well. 

Finally, I like to chop some fresh parsley leaves and add them as a topping. And that is all there is to it. Enjoy this delicious breakfast dish warm with fresh salads, pickles, and warm pita bread! 

I hope you enjoyed this simple musabaha recipe. Let me know what you think in the comments! 

Some other Recipes you might Enjoy: 

• Breakfast hummus fatteh
• Vegan pilaf rice recipe
• Delicious manakish recipe
• Vegan baba ganoush recipe
• Muhammara (red pepper-walnut dip)
• Delicious fattoush salad recipe
• Tangy harak osbao 
• Vegan fesenjan (Iranian stew)
• Vegan stuffed dates

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