Bissara

"This is one of my treasured recipes, it is wonderful on cold days. This recipe originates from somewhere in North Africa."

PREP TIME	10 Min
COOK TIME	1 Hr 10 Min
READY IN	1 Hr 20 Min

SERVINGS & SCALING

Original recipe yield: 8 servings

USMETRIC

About scaling and conversions

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 cloves garlic, crushed
6 cups water
1/3 cup olive oil
3 cups dry green split peas
3 sprigs fresh parsley
1 dried red chile pepper
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon cumin
1 pinch salt
1 pinch black pepper

READ REVIEWS (18)

DIRECTIONS

Fry garlic in the vegetable oil in a large pot over low heat until lightly browned. Pour in water and olive oil; stir in split peas, parsley, chili pepper, paprika, cumin, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 55 minutes, stirring occasionally so that the peas do not stick to the bottom of the pot. When the peas are tender, mash them with a wooden spoon until smooth; stir in additional water to reach desired consistency.

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REVIEWS

MORE MEMBER REVIEWS

Reviewed on Aug. 7, 2006 by LAWSIE

I found this recipe 2 weeks ago and have made it 5 times since then, it's so incredibly good and so incredibly fast and easy. I sincerely doubt I'll ever again make "traditional" split pea soup. This can be eaten as soup or, if you allow it to really thicken up, it makes a fantastic dip with crunchy tortilla strips, corn chips, toasted pita triangles, cucumber slices, or sweet red bell pepper strips. I've also used it as a filling for pita along with chopped cucumbers and a drizzle of yogurt mixed with chopped mint. Scrumptious! Note: Because I didn't have any dried whole chilies, I substituted 1 T. of commercial chili powder. I've also used 1 T. of dried parsley in place of fresh, and that works okay, too, although fresh is best. Thank you for posting this recipe!

15 users found this review helpful

Reviewed on Oct. 3, 2007 by TUNISIANSWIFE

as written, this would be too bland for my taste and I cannot see the sense in adding that much oil. With changes, this soup is delicious and so quick and easy. quickly sauteed 5 large cloves of garlic in a bit of EVOO, upped the cumin to 2 heaping measuring tsp., omitted the whole chili and added Tunisian ground chili powder, and used chicken broth instead of water. Used 3 cans chicken broth and 16 oz pkg of peas. It was thick but not overly so. I had an extra can of chicken broth that I added the next day, as it was thicker then. thanks for the easy recipe that is nice to use for a Ramadan dinner shorba.

3 users found this review helpful

Reviewed on Dec. 15, 2006 by Melissa H.

Next time, I will halve the preparation--I have so much leftovers! This is a great tasting, healthy, unique tasting, FILLING treat. Would also be good on toasted bread, and I've also been putting it on baked potatoes. YUM!

3 users found this review helpful

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