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Hummus Kawarma

Hummus Kawarma

Fresh creamy hummus topped with fried spiced, aromatic lamb and a wonderful garlicky lemon and parsley sauce.  Perfect as a first course, or even as a main meal with a side salad like Fattoush.

Course Appetizer, Main Course
Cuisine Lebanese
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings 6

Ingredients

Hummus

  • 1 1/4 cups dried chickpeas
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 6 1/2 cups water
  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons tahini (light roast)
  • 4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 4 cloves garlic , crushed
  • 6 1/2 tablespoons ice cold water
  • Salt
  • Good quality olive oil , to serve (optional)

Hummus Kawarma

  • 1 quantity of Basic hummus (see page 114), reserving 4 tablespoons of the cooked chickpeas to garnish

Kawarma:

  • 300 g neck fillet of lamb , finely chopped by hand
  • 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp ground white pepper
  • 1 tsp ground allspice
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • good pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1 tsp crushed dried za’atar or oregano leaves
  • 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp chopped fresh mint
  • 1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley , plus extra to garnish
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp unsalted butter or ghee
  • 1 tsp olive oil

Lemon sauce:

  • 10 g flat-leaf parsley , finely chopped
  • 1 green chilli , finely chopped
  • 4 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
  • 2 garlic cloves , crushed
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp pine nuts , toasted in the oven or fried in a little unsalted butter

Instructions

Hummus

  1. The night before, put the chickpeas in a large bowl and cover them with cold water at least twice their volume. Leave to soak overnight.
  2. The next day, drain the chickpeas. Place a medium saucepan over high heat and add the drained chickpeas and baking soda. Cook for about three minutes, stirring constantly
  3. Add the water and bring to a boil. Cook, skimming off any foam and any skins that float to the surface.
  4. The chickpeas will need to cook for 20 to 40 minutes, depending on the type and freshness, sometimes even longer. Once done, they should be very tender, breaking up easily when pressed between your thumb and finger, almost but not quite mushy.
  5. Drain the chickpeas. You should have roughly 3 2/3 cups now. Place the chickpeas in a food processor and process until you get a stiff paste.
  6. Then, with the machine sill running, add the tahini paste, lemon juice, garlic, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt.
  7. Finally, slowly drizzle in the ice water and allow it to mix for about five minutes, until you get a very smooth and creamy paste.
  8. Transfer the hummus to a bowl, cover the surface with plastic wrap, and let it rest for at least 30 minutes. If not using straightaway, refrigerate until needed.
  9. Make sure to take it out of the fridge at least 30 minutes before serving.
  10. Optionally, to serve, top with a layer of good quality olive oil.
  11. This hummus will keep in the refrigerator for up to three days.

Kawarma

  1. To make the kawarma, place all the ingredients apart from he butter or ghee and oil in a medium bowl. Mix well, cover, and allow the mixture to marinate int eh fridge for 30 minutes.
  2. Just before you are ready to cook the meat, place all the ingredients for the lemon sauce in a small bowl and stir well.
  3. Heat the butter or ghee and the love oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the meat in two or three batches and stir as you fry each batch until cooked through. For chopped lamb pieces, you want to have it all little pink in the middle, which means it should take about 2 to 3 minutes to cook. You are also looking for a good sear on the outside, so adjust the heat to get the sear without overcooking the meat. This would mean a touch higher, so that the outside gets browned before the inside is overdone.
  4. Dive the hummus among 6 individual shallow bowls, leaving a slight hollow in the centre of each.
  5. Spoon the warm kawarma into the hollow and scatter with eh reserved chickpeas. Drizzle generously with the lemon sauce and garnish with some parsley and the pine nuts.

Recipe Notes

I have cut the recipe in half for a meal for just the two of us. I have used ground lamb and it works quite well. If you have made the hummus in advance, and don't have the reserved chickpeas for the final kawarma dish, it's not the end of the world.

Recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi, in the book Jerusalem.