Warm chickpeas with green chile sauce and toasted pita Musabaha

The word musabaha means “swimming” or “floating,” here describing the chickpeas floating around in the tahini sauce. It’s essentially hummus a step or two before it gets blitzed. The dish should be warm and creamy enough to eat with a spoon or a strip of pita. This is lovely for breakfast, lunch, or supper. Getting ahead: The toasted pita can be made up to a day ahead and kept in a sealed container at room temperature. The green chile sauce can be made a few hours in advance, but hold back on the parsley until just before serving; it will discolor if it sits around. The chickpeas can be made a few hours in advance and just warmed through to serve. Once assembled, the dish needs to be eaten fresh and warm.

Great

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Step 1

with dried chickpeas, drain and put them in a large saucepan.

Step 2

Cover with plenty of cold water and place over high heat. Bring to a boil, skim any foam from the surface, then decrease the heat to medium-low and simmer for 45–60 minutes, adding 1 tsp of salt toward the end of the cooking time, until the chickpeas are very soft but still retain their shape. Drain the chickpeas, reserving 7 tbsp/100ml of the cooking liquid, and set aside.

Step 3

If starting with canned chickpeas, drain and put them in a medium saucepan. Cover with plenty of cold water and place over medium heat.

Step 4

Bring to a simmer and cook for about 8 minutes, just to soften them up a bit more. Add 1 tsp of salt toward the end of the cooking time. Drain the chickpeas, reserving 7 tbsp/100ml of the cooking liquid, and set aside.

Step 5

While the chickpeas are cooking, preheat the broiler.

Step 6

To toast the pitas, pull open the pitas and tear each half in two. Brush the insides of the pitas lightly with the oil and place under the broiler for about 2 minutes, until crisp and golden brown. Keep a close eye on them while they are under the broiler so that they don’t burn. Remove from

Step 7

the oven and, once cool enough to handle, break the pitas apart into roughly 1½-inch/4cm pieces. Set aside until ready to use.

Step 8

To make the green chile sauce, mix together all the ingredients in a small bowl. If you are making this in advance, hold back on the parsley and just mix this in before serving. It will discolor if it sits around for too long.

Step 9

Once the chickpeas are cooked and drained, put 2 tbsp of oil in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes, stirring often, until the garlic is starting to color. Add the chile, cook for another 1 minute, then add the chickpeas, reserved cooking liquid, cumin, tahini, yogurt, lemon juice, and ½ tsp of salt. Bring to a boil, then decrease the heat to low and simmer for 2–3 minutes, stirring from time to time.

Step 10

Transfer the warm chickpeas to a large serving platter with a lip or to a wide shallow bowl. Spoon in the green chile sauce and drizzle with the ¼ cup/60g tahini. Sprinkle with the paprika and finish with the remaining 1½ tbsp of oil. Serve with the toasted pita.