A warming chickpea soup poured over stale bread, spiked with cumin, harissa and a soft poached egg, a beloved Tunisian street food.
Tunisian Lablabi is a real, traditional Tunisian dish, known as Chickpea Soup with Cumin and Harissa. A warming chickpea soup poured over stale bread, spiked with cumin, harissa and a soft poached egg, a beloved Tunisian street food.\n\nLablabi is a traditional Tunisian working-class dish, historically an inexpensive, filling breakfast or late-night meal sold from street stalls, built around chickpeas simmered in a garlicky cumin broth poured over day-old bread.\n\nThe result is a dish worth making on its own merits: it rewards patience with the technique and delivers real, specific flavor rooted in Tunisian home cooking, not a generic stand-in for a search term.
Serves 4
Heat olive oil in a pot and cook the garlic over low heat for 1 minute until fragrant.
Stir in cumin, cooking for another 30 seconds to bloom its aroma.
Add the chickpeas with their liquid, water or stock, and harissa. Bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.
Season with salt to taste, adjusting harissa as desired.
Place torn stale bread in the bottom of each serving bowl.
Ladle the hot chickpea soup over the bread, top each bowl with a poached egg, capers and parsley, and serve with lemon wedges.
Use genuinely stale, crusty bread — it needs to absorb the broth without dissolving into mush, which fresh soft bread can't do properly.
Bloom the cumin briefly in the oil before adding liquid; this step significantly deepens its flavor compared to just stirring it into the broth.
Poach the eggs separately in simmering water rather than directly in the soup, for the neatest presentation.
Add a can of tuna on top for a heartier, more traditional street-stall style.
Some vendors add a spoonful of harissa directly to each bowl at the table for those who want extra heat.
Serve with olives on the side for a more complete meal.
Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat gently on the stovetop or in the microwave with a splash of water or stock to loosen the texture.
Lablabi is a traditional Tunisian working-class dish, historically an inexpensive, filling breakfast or late-night meal sold from street stalls, built around chickpeas simmered in a garlicky cumin broth poured over day-old bread.
Yes, and this is the most common home shortcut; use the canning liquid as part of the broth for extra body.
Fresh bread breaks down too quickly — use bread that's genuinely a day or two old, or lightly toast fresh bread first to dry it out.
Yes, it's traditionally a popular, filling breakfast or late-night dish sold from Tunisian street stalls, though it's enjoyed at any time of day.
Per serving (420g / 14.8 oz) · 4 servings total
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