Makhloota (Chickpeas and Fava Beans With Tahini)

Brighten up chickpeas and fava beans with a punchy lemon, garlic, and chile sauce, then drizzle it all with olive oil and a creamy tahini dressing.

By
Reem Kassis
Reem Kassis: Contributing Writer at Serious Eats
Reem Kassis
Reem Kassis is a Palestinian writer whose work focuses on the intersection of food with culture, history, and politics. She has written two cookbooks: The Palestinian Table (2017) and The Arabesque Table (2021).
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Published April 26, 2024
Overhead view of makhloota

Serious Eats / Mai Kakish

Why It Works

  • Cooking the chickpeas and fava beans from scratch gives you better texture and a more flavorful broth to work with.
  • Serving the fava beans and chickpeas next to each other rather than mixed together (as is often the case) makes for a more visually appealing presentation without compromising on flavor.
  • The bright tahini sauce, fresh parsley, and green chiles break through the heaviness of the beans, creating a balanced dish.

If you’ve noticed that many Arabic dishes are named based on where they come from (e.g. Qudsiyeh from al-Quds, or Jerusalem), the vessel they are cooked in (qidreh, which means pot), or manner in which they are prepared (maqlubeh means “flipped over”), you won’t be surprised to learn that “makhloota” simply means mixed together. What is actually mixed together, however, can vary depending on region or locale. In Lebanon, it traditionally refers to a dish of boiled mixed legumes including any combination of chickpeas, kidney beans, fava beans, lentils, wheat, and bulgur. 

The version of makhloota I am sharing here is one I came across in Palestinian hummus shops across the Galilee region, which borders Lebanon. Made with a combination of cooked chickpeas and fava beans, it appears to be a version of Lebanese makhloota. The beans are usually lightly mashed, then dressed with a lemony garlic sauce. The two legumes are served on the same plate, either adjacent to or on top of each other. Some places serve this mixture on a bed of hummus b’tahini, while others will simply drizzle a tahini sauce on top. 

I first tried this dish in the Galilee. I was probably a teen; I remember making a face at my parents when they ordered it as if to say: Why order such a basic dish? It’s just beans mixed together! But I also remember the first bite because it caught me by surprise—and was a good lesson in how a simple or basic dish is often just as, if not more, delicious than a fussy or complicated one. 

To this day, I often prefer makhloota on its own, heavy on the garlic and lemon, with some green chiles and parsley on the side. It’s the way Hummus Issa, my go-to spot in Akka, serves it.  But that’s not to say there isn’t a time and place for elevating the dish with a generous drizzle of tahini sauce on top, which is why I have included this option in the recipe as well. Regardless of which option you choose or find yourself in the mood for, the one thing I recommend (as always!) is to boil extra of both the favas and the chickpeas and freeze the additional portions because you can then make makhloota in the time it takes to reheat these legumes. 

The recipe calls for you to mix the fava and chickpeas separately with the flavorings for a prettier presentation, but for a quick weeknight dish you can certainly mix everything together in the same bowl. If using canned beans and you don’t mind the presentation, you could also heat them both together. However you make your makhloota, be sure to serve it with plenty of bread to scoop it up, and make sure to get a bit of everything in each bite.

Recipe Details

Makhloota (Chickpeas and Fava Beans With Tahini) Recipe

Prep 10 mins
Cook 2 hrs
Soaking Time 8 hrs
Total 10 hrs 10 mins
Serves 4 to 6
Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

Ingredients

For the Makhloota:

  • 4 ounces dried chickpeas (113g; about 1/2 cup) or one 14-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained (see notes)

  • 4 ounces dried mini fava beans (113g; about 1/2 cup) or one 14-ounce can of ful medames (see notes)

  • 4 medium garlic cloves (20g), finely grated on a microplane

  • 2 tablespoons (30ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus more as needed

  • 1 medium green chile, such as jalapeño or Anaheim, stemmed, seeded, and finely diced

  • 1/2 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for table salt, use half as much by volume

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

For the Tahini Sauce (Optional):

  • 1/4 cup (about 3 ounces; 70g) tahini

  • 2 tablespoons (30ml) lemon juice

  • 2 tablespoons (30ml) Greek-style or plain yogurt

  • Kosher salt

  • A very small handful of flat-leaf parsley leaves (about 10g), finely chopped

  • Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

  • Pita

Directions

  1. In a medium bowl, cover chickpeas with 4 cups (946ml) cold water. In another medium bowl, cover fava beans with 4 cups (946ml) cold water. Let stand at room temperature at least 8 hours. Using a colander, drain and rinse both thoroughly.

    Overhead view of beans

    Serious Eats / Mai Kakish

  2. In a medium saucepan or pot, combine chickpeas with enough water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce to a simmer. Simmer, covered with lid slightly ajar, stirring occasionally and topping off with more water as needed to keep beans fully covered, until chickpeas are completely tender but not falling apart, 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours.

    Overhead view of chickpeas in pot

    Serious Eats / Lorena Masso

  3. At the same time the chickpeas are cooking, in a separate medium saucepan or pot, combine the fava beans with enough water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce to a simmer. Simmer, covered with lid slightly ajar, stirring occasionally and topping off with more water as needed to keep beans fully covered, until fava beans are completely tender but not falling apart, 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours.

    Overhead view of fava beans in pot

    Serious Eats / Mai Kakish

  4. In a small bowl, combine garlic, lemon juice, chile, salt, and cumin. Transfer half to another small bowl. Using a slotted spoon, transfer cooked chickpeas and 3 to 4 tablespoons of the braising liquid to the first bowl. Using a slotted spoon, transfer cooked fava beans and 3 to 4 tablespoons of the braising liquid to the other bowl. Stir each to combine until slightly thickened, using the back of a spoon to mash some of the beans as you stir—you are looking for a consistency in which most of the beans remain intact but are coated by a thick stew-like liquid Season to taste with additional lemon juice and salt.

    Overhead view of making makhloota

    Serious Eats / Mai Kakish

  5. For the Tahini Sauce: In a small bowl, whisk tahini, lemon juice, yogurt, and salt with 2 tablespoons water until well-combined. (For a looser consistency, add an extra tablespoon of water.) Set aside.

    Two image colalge of whisking tahini

    Serious Eats / Mai Kakish

  6. To Serve: Place the dressed chickpeas on one side of the serving bowl and the fava beans on the other. Drizzle with tahini sauce, if using. Garnish with parsley and drizzle generously with olive oil. Serve with pita for scooping.

    Overhead view of makhloota

    Serious Eats / Mai Kakish

Special Equipment

2 medium saucepans

Notes

Canned chickpeas and/or fava beans can be substituted for dried. To use canned beans,  drain and rinse well. In a small pot, combine chickpeas and 1/2 teaspoon cumin. Cover with water and simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes, until fully heated through. Repeat with fava beans.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
341Calories
13gFat
46gCarbs
14gProtein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4 to 6
Amount per serving
Calories341
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 13g16%
Saturated Fat 2g8%
Cholesterol 0mg0%
Sodium 804mg35%
Total Carbohydrate 46g17%
Dietary Fiber 8g29%
Total Sugars 4g
Protein 14g
Vitamin C 18mg90%
Calcium 117mg9%
Iron 3mg18%
Potassium 416mg9%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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