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November 26, 2019 Breakfast

Moroccan Bissara Recipe | Split Fava Beans Soup

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Brace yourselves friends, winter is here.

At least in Canada it is. Long, dark, cold winter. If you want to know what it feels like, think of Game of Thrones, but only the Winterfell parts. Now, imagine you’re stuck there for 4-5 months. Except, you are not living with the Starks and enjoying all of the Starkian luxuries.

You will be shovelling snow left and right, scraping ice, walking very carefully to avoid slipping and bruising your butt and your face will freeze. Plus it’s night time at 4.00 p.m.

via GIPHY

That’s why hot soup. That’s the only thing I want in the winter.

What is Bissara ?

The name “Bissara” is derived from “bees-oro” which means cooked beans. It’s a traditional North-African dish that is usually made with dried fava beans and/or split peas. There are many varieties of it. For instance, Egyptian Bissara includes leafy greens such as spinach and fresh herbs like mint and dill.

Today we will be making the Moroccan version. The one I grew up eating on cold winter days.

Well, Moroccan cold winter. It was as cold as 7 degrees centigrade in Marrakesh … brrrrrr

I loved it, though. It was perfect then, and it is perfect now. And chances are if you are having a case of the winter blues, you will love this soup.

How to prepare Bissara

The first thing to know is that you can make Bissara with either dried fava beans or dried split peas (yellow or green) or a combination of both. You don’t have to soak your beans, but they will cook faster if you do.

I personally don’t soak them.

If you want to cook them faster, you can do so by using an Instant pot or any other kind of pressure cooker you like.

That said, there are 2 main steps to this recipe:

1. Bring to a boil your peas/beans in a large pot of water. Add your garlic cloves, olive oil, salt, turmeric and cumin. Lower the heat and cook until your beans get very soft. This should take about 30 to 35 minutes.

2. Let your soup cool down, and blend it. You can use an immersion blender or a regular one. If you find that your soup is too thick then add a little more water to it, if not, enjoy as is.

As far as garnish goes, I like to garnish my soup with some flaky salt, hot cayenne, cumin and a drizzle of olive oil. And of course some crispy bread.

It’s a Moroccan recipe, you know bread must be involved at some point.

Bissara Recipe

4.41 from 5 votes
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Moroccan Bissara Recipe | Fava Bean and Split Peas Soup

Made with Fava Beans and Split Peas, this Moroccan classic is the classic winter dish you've never heard of.

Course Side Dish, Soup
Cuisine Moroccan
Keyword Bissara, Easy, Fava Bean, Moroccan, Soup, Split Peas
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Servings 8 Servings
Calories 197 kcal
Author Idriss

Ingredients

  • 1 cup dry fava beans
  • 1 cup dry split peas
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp turmeric powder
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • Salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Add your dry fava beans and split peas to a large pot. Add 4 to 6 cups of water or just add enough to completely submerge your beans/peas. Place your pot on your stove at medium-high heat and add cumin, paprika, turmeric powder, salt and olive oil. Using the palm of your hand, crush your garlic cloves, peel and add them to the pot.

  2. Bring your pot to a boil, cover and lower the heat to medium-low. Let cook for 30-35 minutes. Once your beans are broken down turn the heat off and let your pot cool down for about 10 minutes. Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until you get a smooth texture.

  3. To garnish, add a drizzle of olive oil, some cumin and some hot cayenne powder if you're feeling bold. Serve with a slice of bread and enjoy!

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Categories: Breakfast

Previous Post: « Moroccan Fried Sardines with Chermoula
Next Post: Lemon Cauliflower and Chickpeas Tagine »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Chimnaza says

    December 2, 2019 at 8:16 am

    5 stars
    Looks yummy, will try out the recipe.

    Reply
  2. LaRena says

    December 2, 2019 at 4:21 pm

    5 stars
    What a wonderful recipe. Thanks so much for sharing.

    Reply
  3. Garden Thyme says

    December 2, 2019 at 7:41 pm

    This looks amazing, can you use other types of beans as a substitute?

    Reply
    • Idriss says

      December 3, 2019 at 7:04 am

      Hi!
      Any kind of dry split beans is a good choice for this recipe. I have even used red lentils and it worked quite well 🙂

      Reply
  4. Aj says

    December 6, 2019 at 8:16 am

    Just Had it last week , it is so tasty for the lover of winter soup.
    Reminder take the bubbly part when boiling the fava bean , it is full of gases…

    Reply
    • Idriss says

      December 6, 2019 at 5:03 pm

      Very good reminder AJ! I will add that to the instructions.
      Glad you enjoyed it 🙂

      Reply
  5. ALD says

    March 9, 2021 at 4:59 pm

    2 stars
    Is something wrong with the amount of water called for in the recipe? I used 2 liters and soup was thin like a broth. Seems like 1 liter of water is more appropriate to get a thick soup. Also recipes instructions say “add cumin, paprika, turmeric powder, salt…” yet the ingredients list does not mention paprika at all. How much paprika should be added? Seems some edits are needed!

    Reply
    • Idriss says

      March 12, 2021 at 8:01 am

      Thank you for the heads’ up! I updated the recipe.

      Reply
  6. Sarah says

    March 10, 2021 at 7:07 am

    How much paprika? You mention it in the recipe instructions but not the ingredient list.

    Reply
    • Idriss says

      March 12, 2021 at 8:00 am

      Thank you for catching that Sarah. I updated the recipe card (it’s 1 tsp).

      Reply
  7. Andrew Bennett says

    August 29, 2021 at 8:53 pm

    How can dried fava beans only need 35 minutes of cooking? They generally take at least 2 hours, maybe slightly less for really small slivered ones.

    Reply
    • Idriss says

      August 31, 2021 at 9:46 pm

      Hi Andrew, if cooked in a pressure cooker fava beans cook much faster.

      Reply
  8. Christina J says

    February 20, 2023 at 10:58 am

    Hello! Looks great and I can’t wait to try. How much cloves? I see it talked about but I can’t see the amount. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Idriss says

      March 5, 2023 at 9:47 am

      Hi Christina! It’s 2 cloves. Thank you for letting me know. I will update the recipe.

      Reply

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Hi I'm Idriss!
Montrealer, Born and Raised in The beautiful country of Morocco. I was taught Mediterranean recipes by awesome mama. If you are looking to enrich your recipe library with some awesome North-African recipes, then you are at the right place!

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