🇹🇳 Tunisia

LablabiTunisian chickpea soup

Name: Lablabi (Tunisian chickpea soup)
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Tunisia
Ingredients: 400 g (2 cups) dried chickpeas, soaked overnight with 1/2 tsp baking soda; 2 l (2 qt) water, or part chicken stock; 6 garlic cloves, crushed; 1 tbsp ground cumin (kamoun), toasted in a dry pan; more to serve; 1 tbsp harissa, plus more at the table; 90 ml (6 tbsp) olive oil; 2 tsp salt, to taste; juice of 1 lemon lemon, plus wedges to serve; 300 g (10 oz) stale bread, baguette or semolina bread, torn into small pieces; 6 eggs, soft-boiled or poached; 2 cans (about 150 g) (2 cans (about 5 oz)) tuna in oil, optional; 3 tbsp capers and a handful of olives, to serve

Tunisian chickpea soup: chickpeas in a thin garlic and cumin broth, poured over pieces of stale bread and topped with harissa, olive oil, a soft egg, tuna, capers and olives; a breakfast and street-stall soup.

Origin and history

Lablabi is a Tunisian soup of chickpeas on stale bread, eaten for breakfast and sold at street stalls and cafés, especially in winter. Tunisian press and cookbooks describe it as an everyday dish of the poor kitchen that spread through the country's cities, with regional forms such as the Bizerte sandwich version.

Make it at home

Makes: 6 servings
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Hands-on: 30 min

Ingredients

Metric US

400 g2 cups dried chickpeas, soaked overnight with 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 l2 qt water, or part chicken stock
6 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp ground cumin (kamoun), toasted in a dry pan; more to serve
1 tbsp harissa, plus more at the table
90 ml6 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp salt, to taste
juice of 1 lemon lemon, plus wedges to serve
300 g10 oz stale bread, baguette or semolina bread, torn into small pieces
6 eggs, soft-boiled or poached
2 cans (about 150 g)2 cans (about 5 oz) tuna in oil, optional
3 tbsp capers and a handful of olives, to serve

Method

1. Drain the chickpeas, put them in a large pot with the water and bring to a boil, skimming the foam.
2. Simmer, covered, for 45 to 60 minutes (older chickpeas take longer), until completely soft.
3. Stir in the garlic, cumin, harissa, 3 tablespoons of the oil and the salt, and simmer for 10 minutes more.
4. Add the lemon juice and taste; the broth should be strongly seasoned with garlic, cumin and heat. Keep it hot.
5. Cook the eggs: poach them, or boil for 7 minutes and peel.
6. Divide the torn bread among deep bowls and ladle the hot chickpeas and broth over it; let it soak for a minute.
7. Top each bowl with an egg, the capers, olives and tuna, and drizzle with the remaining oil.
8. Serve with extra harissa, cumin and lemon wedges at the table so each person can season their own bowl.

Notes

Total time: 1 h 30 min (plus overnight soaking).
Lablabi (lablebi) is a Tunisian breakfast and street-stall soup, with the dish assembled in the bowl: the stale bread goes at the bottom and the chickpea broth is poured over.
Toppings are personal: egg, tuna, capers, olives, harissa, olive oil and lemon are the usual ones; in Bizerte the chickpeas are served in bread as a sandwich.
Traditional versions use semolina bread from the day before, and some add cinnamon or dried chillies to the pot; more recent versions include a bit of tomato paste.
Canned chickpeas work in a pinch: simmer them 10 to 15 minutes in water with the spices; the broth will be thinner.
Related: bissara (Moroccan fava soup), harira, and the Spanish sopa de ajo, also bread in a spiced broth.

Adapted from Tunisian spiced chickpea and bread soup (lablabi), Ottolenghi, Lablabi national, Tunisie Numérique, and Gastronomie: lablabi nature, au thon ou bel hargma, Le Petit Journal Tunis.