Musabbaha or Msabbaha is a rustic Middle Eastern dish made with whole chickpeas, a creamy tahini-yogurt sauce, and warm spices. It's like hummus—but chunkier, cozier, and just as satisfying. All you need is canned chickpeas, a few pantry ingredients and 20 minutes. Topped with cumin, paprika, roasted nuts, and olive oil, this comforting mezze is perfect for breakfast with flatbread or as part of a mezze table.
INGREDIENTS
- 500 g cooked or canned chickpeas
- 2 cups water
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 cup plain yogurt
- 1/3 cup tahini,
- 1 lemon (juice)
- 2 cloves of garlic
- Salt to taste
To garnish:
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp pul biber or Aleppo peppers (optional)
- 2 tbsp pine nuts, roasted
- 1 tbsp cashew nuts, roasted (optional)
- Extra virgin olive oil
DIRECTIONS
- Transfer the chickpeas into a sauce pan together with 2 cups water
- Add 1 tsp baking soda and bring to a boil.
- Let it simmer for 15 - 20 mins, drain the chickpeas and set aside the cooking liquid.
- In a bowl, combine 1/4 cup yogurt, 1/3 cup tahini and juice of 1 lemon and 1 tsp salt
- Crush or finely mince the garlic and add into the bowl.
- Mix well until combined and the sauce is thickened.
- Transfer half of the chickpeas (optionally peel off the skins) into the cooking liquid.
- Mash the chickpeas with a fork to combine with the cooking liquid into a chunky texture.
- Combine mashed chickpeas with the tahini sauce, mix until the mixture is creamy.
- Add the rest of the chickpeas into the mixture.
- Taste and adjust the salt to your taste.
- Layer the mixture onto a serving dish, sprinkle with ground cumin, paprika, pul biber.
- Garnish with toasted pine nuts, cashew nuts and drizzle a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil on top.
- Enjoy with flatbread!
