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Preview: Hummus Ma Lahma (Hummus with Spicy Beef)

by Dawn T in Rouxbe Videos

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Hummus Ma Lahma (Hummus with Spicy Beef)

Preview: Hummus Ma Lahma (Hummus with Spicy Beef)

by Dawn T in Rouxbe Videos

Hummus served with spicy Middle Eastern ground beef.

Serves
4 to 6
Active Time
25 mins
Total Time
25 mins

Step 1: Making the Hummus

Making the Hummus
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1 can chickpeas (19 oz. drained)
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin * (or 1/2 tsp Monsoon Balti Spice )
  • 1/2 cup tahini (sesame paste)
  • 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 3/4 tsp Salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

For the hummus, the first thing you need to do is peel the garlic and purée in the food processor. Add the chickpeas, the tahini and the ground cumin and purée.

Then add the lemon juice, salt, pepper and purée again. With the machine running, slowly add oil. If thinner hummus is desired.

Set aside and prepare the beef.

Step 2: Making the Beef

Making the Beef
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 small onion
  • 1/2 lb lean ground beef
  • 1/2 small can Tomato paste
  • 1/4 tsp allspice
  • 1/8 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/8 tsp chilli powder
  • 1/2 tsp smoked (if available) paprika
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1/4 tsp Salt
  • 1/8 tsp fresh ground pepper
  • 1 tsp chopped cilantro
  • 1 tsp chopped parsley
  • 1 tsp chopped mint

Heat the oil in a fry pan over medium-low heat. Finely chop the onion, turn heat up to medium and sauté onions for a minute or two. Add beef and sauté for two or three more minutes, or just until the beef is almost cooked. Strain off any extra oil from the beef. Turn heat to medium-low and return the beef to the pan. Add tomato paste and the spices. Let cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
Roughly chop the cilantro, parsley and mint.
In a shallow bowl, add the hummus and create a well in centre, then pour or spoon the beef into the centre. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and top with freshly cracked pepper. Finish with the cilantro, parsley, mint and paprika. This dish is best served hot, but can also be served room temperature.

Notes

Hummus can be made the day before and leftovers will keep for several days in the refrigerator.
This recipe results in more authentic hummus with a stronger tahini presence unlike most North American recipes. If you prefer you can decrease the amount of tahini to your liking.

Technically this particular spice blend is Indian, but the flavor it adds to the hummus is fantastic. Every time I make hummus people ask me what is the secret spice...well this is it, the "Monsoon Balti" spice mix from, Monsoon Coast www.monsooncoast.com

Comments

Hummus w/beef

I made this last night I have to say I wasn't impressed. I'm familiar with a similar Middle Eastern dish called Lachmajou, however lamb is used instead of beef and only cinnamon for the spice. I'd omit the tomato paste and replace it with chopped tomatoes instead. The paste is very concentrated and overpowers the dish unless you add some broth or other liquid to mellow it out. Also, cooking it for only five minutes after the adding all those spices doesn't give enough time for the flavor to develop. Over all it tasted like ground beef with tomato paste. Sorry, just my opinion) I added sautéed garlic, a bit more salt and a little chicken broth to try to balance things out. The hummus was very good! However, I added extra garlic and olive oil.

by Michele G | Jun 17, 2007 2:38pm | Permalink
Looking for further feedback?

Hi Michele G. Thanks for your feedback. As a founder, we love both positive and constructive feedback. This is a recipe that we have personally made over five times and everytime we've made it, people have raved about it. In fact, we made it just last night for 25 people and it lasted about 15 minutes. So while I'm a bit surprised, I'm more concerned that everyone has great experiences with our recipes.

So with this said, I'm wondering if anyone else out there has tried this recipe. At Rouxbe, we only feature the best of the best and we are more concerned about quality than quantity so I'd rather improve this recipe or delete it.

Floors open. Thanks again for sharing your comments Michelle.

Joe

by Joe G | Jun 17, 2007 6:56pm | Permalink
Another take on this

In view of Michele's comments, I substituted 2 diced tomatoes for the tomato paste and put in a splash of white wine which had a nice deglazing effect (I like saucy dishes anyhow). I think the extra liquid helped the spices along. I also added extra garlic to the hummus, but that's really a personal thing isn't it? I think if I was making it for company I would have stuck to the amount of garlic suggested in the original recipe. I thought the spice amounts for the beef were perfect, and I'm really glad to have discovered this dish. Yum!

by Lisa P | Jul 8, 2007 12:31pm | Permalink
add more spice

I can see why it would taste like beef with tomato paste, look at the amounts of the spice the recipe calls for.
I always laugh at recipes that call for something like 'an EIGHTH of a teaspoon of chili powder.'

I mean why even bother, 1/8tsp isn't going to do anything. IMO spices like chili powder and cumin should be used in denominations no smaler than a tablespoon. So, want the beef to have flavour? Add (ALOT) more cumin and chili powder and taste it while its cooking to test if it has enough flavour.

by Juju S | Oct 26, 2007 12:04pm | Permalink
Different and Great

I followed the recipe exactly and thought it was really flavorful..You do have to limit on spices such as cinnamon and allspice for they are strong..Thanks for sharing this..I have gotten so many great recipes from this site...

by Chester R | 11 days ago | Permalink

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