Habbiyeh

Habbiyeh is a thick winter soup of husked whole wheat and chickpeas cooked together in bone broth. The grains stay whole. Small pieces of meat browned in ghee go into the pot. It is a home dish of Hasakah and the Euphrates basin, and it takes two days.

Two days of preparation

The wheat grains, which give the dish its name, are soaked with the chickpeas for a night, close to a full day. The next day they are boiled with bones and sinew until almost cooked. Lean meat is cut small, browned in ghee and spiced. The broth with the wheat and chickpeas is poured over it. The two cook together. Today most homes finish it in a pressure cooker.

It used to be made without meat

When it was cooked over a wood fire, habbiyeh was often made with bones alone. The marrow was sucked out at the table. In Hasakah people say the dish “finds its way to the knees”, meaning it strengthens them. It is also said to be better with wheat grown on dry, rain-fed fields.

How it differs from harees

In the harees of Aleppo, cracked wheat is pounded with meat until it turns to porridge. In habbiyeh the grain stays whole, chickpeas and bone broth go in, and the texture is a thick soup rather than a porridge. In Deir ez-Zor the same whole grain is also cooked in Sufi lodges on the day of Ashura.

Where to eat it

At home tables in Hasakah and the Euphrates basin, hot, in winter. There is no verified information about restaurants serving it.