Balila

Hummus Balila is a mouthwatering dish of tender warm chickpeas, topped with copious amounts of cumin, spices and extra virgin olive oil.

What is Balila?

Balila (also known as hummus balila) is a Levantine/Middle Eastern dish made of warm chickpeas dressed in olive oil, cumin, and other delicious spices.

It's a popular Lebanese breakfast food, often enjoyed across the Middle East as part of a warm mezze. It’s typically served alongside ful mudammas, a plate of pickled and fresh vegetables, and warm pita bread.

Small specialist food shops are scattered across Lebanon, offering daily-made hummus balila and similar foods like musabaha or traditional authentic hummus dip. These dishes have subtle differences in preparation and ingredients, yet their flavors are notably distinct.

I find balila delightfully sweet than its counterparts because the tender chickpeas remain mostly intact, allowing you to savor their full flavor! I just love it!

Hummus Balila in English

The Arabic word "hummus" is chickpeas in English.

Balila in English is pronounced as ba·lee·lah. It is the Arabic word for cooked wet chickpeas.

Ingredients Highlight

The Hero Spice

The key spice in any good balila is ground cumin, which is combined with other spices like ground sweet paprika and chili pepper. These spices can be adjusted to taste, which is part of the beauty of this dish.

Use a high-quality extra virgin olive oil. Typically, a generous amount is used to dress the chickpeas. However, I've limited it to one tablespoon in this recipe as a personal preference. The flavor of the olive oil combined with the sweet chickpeas is unmatched!

The Chickpeas

Both dry or canned chickpeas can be used. I prefer dry chickpeas as the cooking water is more flavorful and fresh compared to canned, and the chickpeas themselves are larger.

For convenience, I've listed canned chickpeas in the recipe below, but here's a quick guide for using the dry variety:

Using Dry Chickpeas

The general rule of thumb is 1 cup of dry chickpeas will yield 3 cups of cooked. I usually make quite a bit on a weekly basis which I keep in the fridge ready to be used.

1. Preparation: Remove any unwanted chickpea pieces and soak them overnight in water (1 cup of chickpeas to 5 cups of water).
2. Cooking: The next morning, add the chickpeas and their soaking water to a pot. Bring to a soft boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to medium-low heat and cook with the lid partially open for approximately 90 minutes, or until the chickpeas are very soft. Skim off any froth as needed.

You can soak or cook with 1 teaspoon of baking soda, this helps with tenderizing them. It is not mandatory.

You will need 1½ cups of cooked chickpeas for this balila recipe. If you have leftover chickpeas, you can use them to make a beet hummus dip.

Storage

Although balila is best eaten fresh, it can be stored. Once it has cooled down, any leftovers can be placed in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days. It is best reheated before consumption.