Hilbeh

the whipped fenugreek relish of Yemen and the Yemenite Jewish table: soaked seed beaten to a pale airy froth and folded through coriander, green chilli, and garlic, scooped up with flatbread beside every meal

Origin: Yemen and the Yemenite Jewish diaspora

From the journey of Fenugreek.

Hilbeh (the Arabic ḥulba, the Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic ḥilbeh) is the fenugreek relish of Yemen, and it is one of the very few preparations in world cookery in which fenugreek is not a seasoning but the entire substance of the dish. The technique is unique to the Arabian highlands: whole seeds are soaked in cold water for a full day until they swell and soften, drained and rinsed to carry off the harshest of their bitterness, ground to a paste, and then beaten hard with a little water until the paste trebles in volume into a stiff, pale, airy froth. The mucilage of the fenugreek seed traps air exactly as an egg white does, and no other seed in the world will do this. The plain white froth, hulba, is spooned over the bubbling stew saltah and the wheaten porridge aseed. Blended with coriander, green chilli, garlic, and a little tomato or lemon, it becomes the green hilbeh that stands on the table beside every Yemeni meal and, carried to Israel by the Yemenite Jewish migrations of the mid-twentieth century, became a fixture of the Israeli table too, spread into pita alongside zhug and eaten with the Sabbath breads. Its flavour is startling to a palate that has not met it: cleanly bitter, herbaceous, faintly maple-scented from the seed's sotolon, and with a light, mousse-like texture. It is precisely that bitterness, set against rich stews and soft breads, that Yemenis prize.

Ingredients

Fenugreek Froth

  • 3 tbsp whole fenugreek seeds
  • 4 tbsp iced water, for whipping
  • 0.5 tsp fine salt

Green Hilbeh

  • 1 large bunch fresh coriander, leaves and tender stalks
  • 2 green chillies, stalks removed
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 tomato, deseeded and chopped (optional)
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 0.5 tsp ground cumin

Method

  1. Put the fenugreek seeds in a bowl and cover them with plenty of cold water. Leave to soak for 24 hours, changing the water two or three times if you can. The seeds will swell to several times their size and become soft and slippery.
  2. Drain the seeds into a fine sieve and rinse them thoroughly under cold running water, rubbing them between your fingers, until the slippery coating is largely washed away and the water runs clear.
  3. Grind the drained seeds to a smooth paste in a blender or with a mortar and pestle. Scrape into a bowl, add the salt, and whip hard with a whisk or hand beater, dribbling in the iced water a spoonful at a time, until the paste trebles in volume and becomes a stiff, pale, aerated foam.
  4. For green hilbeh, blitz the coriander, green chillies, garlic, tomato, lemon juice, and cumin to a coarse green paste, then fold it gently through the whipped fenugreek froth. Do not beat it in, or the foam will deflate.
  5. Taste and adjust the salt and lemon, and serve at once in a shallow bowl, to be scooped up with torn flatbread alongside stews, soups, rice, and grilled meat.

Notes

The bitterness of hilbeh is not a fault to be eliminated but the quality that makes it worth eating; the soaking and rinsing are meant to bring it within bounds, not to remove it. Yemenite Jewish cooks in Israel often add a spoonful of zhug (the hot green chilli paste) in place of the fresh chillies, and the two condiments are commonly served together. Fenugreek's sotolon passes into the sweat of those who eat it in quantity, giving a faint smell of maple syrup; this is harmless and a well-known property of the seed. Plain hulba, without the herbs, is the correct topping for saltah and aseed.

The Gastrographer

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