Hamin (חמין (Hamin))
Overview
Hamin is a Jewish Sabbath stew that cooks slowly overnight, eaten in Israel and across the Sephardic world. Beef, often brisket or shin, is layered in a heavy pot with chickpeas or beans, potatoes, wheat berries or rice, onions and spices such as cumin, paprika, turmeric and cinnamon. Whole eggs in their shells are buried among the other ingredients. Water is added, the pot is sealed and it is left on a very low heat from Friday afternoon until lunch on Saturday. By then the eggs are brown and creamy, the meat is falling apart and the juices have become a thick, dark broth.
History
Jewish law forbids lighting a fire or cooking on the Sabbath, so Jewish cooks developed dishes that could be started before sunset on Friday and kept warm until the next day. Hamin, from the Hebrew word for hot, emerged among the Sephardic Jews of Iberia, and in Morocco it is called dafina. Ashkenazi Jews in Europe made a similar dish called cholent, and both are cooked in Israel today.
Main ingredients
Beef, chickpeas, potatoes, wheat berries, eggs in their shells, cumin. The soup is built on slow-cooked meat juices and is usually served hot. Diet: contains meat; not usually gluten-free.
Explore: Chickpea soups · Beef soups · Potato soups · Egg soups · Barley and grains soups · More soups from Israel
Recipe
Method
- 1
Fry the onions in the oil in a heavy pot and stir in the spices.
- 2
Add the meat and brown it, then add the chickpeas, wheat berries tied in a cloth, potatoes and garlic.
- 3
Tuck the eggs in between, add water to cover and bring to the boil.
- 412 h
Cover tightly and cook in an oven at 100°C for 12 hours, or overnight.
- 5
Serve the meat, eggs, potatoes and chickpeas with the thick juices.
- ✓
Serve. About 12h 30m from start to bowl.
Sources
Description, history and recipe written by SoupWiki and checked against the sources above. Calories and times are rough estimates.
