Houboub or Achoura

© Cèdre Blanc

Pulses with wheat, beans, dried fruits and nuts, cinnamon and aniseed.

Ingredients

• 100 g wheat
• 100 g small white beans
• 100 g chickpeas
• 100 g peeled fava beans (available in oriental shops)
• 0.5-1 l almond milk (vegan version) or whole milk (vegetarian version)
• 2-4 tsp aniseed grains
• 1⁄2-1 tsp cinnamon powder
• dried fruits, preferably light varieties such as apricots, sultanas, figs, light dates etc…
• nut mixture, chopped into small pieces.
• organic agave syrup or honey, or simply sugar! Or also with homemade syrup (recipe below).

Instructions

1. Soak then cook the beans separately because of the different cooking points!
2. Boil the wheat with about 4 times the cooking water until al dente, then remove from heat and wrap in towels while still hot and leave to soak for a few hours (this will make it soft but not fall apart!).
3. Cook the chickpeas until soft. Then drain the water (tip: you can use the water in the same way you would use cream to make a delicious chocolate mousse!).
4. Cook white beans until slightly al dente.
5. Cook shelled fava beans until slightly al dente.
6. When all the pulses are ready, put them into a larger pot, add 0.5-1l almond milk or whole milk little by little. Consistency must be like stew, not too runny!
7. To this add approx. 2-4 tsp aniseed grains (according to taste) and 1⁄2-1 tsp cinnamon powder, also according to taste.
8. Once brought to a boil, while stirring constantly, it is ready. While still hot, add finely chopped dried fruits and the nut mixture.
9. Sweeten according to taste with organic agave syrup or honey, simply sugar or with homemade syrup. Done!

PS: I sweetened it with typical Arabic syrup in addition to the agave syrup! Syrup (hangover in
Arabic) is made as follows:

• 200 g Sugar and 100 ml water, bring both together to a boil, then put in: a few drops of lemon, a couple of drops of orange blossom water, a couple of drops of rose water, bring to boil for 1 minute, done.
• Leave to cool. The consistency should be like liquid honey. Sweeten to taste.

PS2: you can also play with the taste: either anise and cinnamon and neutral sweetness, or
sweeten with just the sirup, or both! The mixture of cinnamon, aniseed, orange blossom and
rose water goes well together.