Bissara

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 500 g peas (split or shelled peas), dried
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp pepper
• 1 tsp sweet paprika powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp coriander powder, if desired
• ½ tsp chili powder
• 3 dashes vinegar, mild or lemon juice
• some olive oil
• e.g. water for boiling
• some paprika powder, sweet, possibly
• Cumin powder, if desired

Instructions

Working time approx. 15 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour 50 minutes; Total time approx. 2 hours 5 minutes

Split pea puree

Place the split peas in a sieve, rinse under cold running water, and drain. Place them in a saucepan, add the garlic cloves, and cover with (cold!) water. Bring the peas to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer over low to medium heat for 30 minutes (60 minutes for split peas), adding water occasionally if necessary. Once the peas are soft, remove the pan from the heat and let everything cool. Once cooled, transfer to a blender or puree with an immersion blender. Bring back to a boil briefly and season to taste with salt, paprika, chili powder, and cumin. Serve on plates, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with paprika and cumin. Serve with freshly baked bread. Split peas are available in green and yellow varieties. Split peas do not need to be soaked, as the hard outer shell is already removed during the shelling process. Cooking time is approximately 60-90 minutes. Split peas are used for particularly creamy soups or pea purée. Split peas: When peeling dried peas, many fall into two halves. These are separated from the whole peas to create split peas. After peeling, the peas are polished, giving them their shiny, glossy appearance. Because they cook particularly quickly, they are ideal for soups or purées. They can also be used to make delicious fillings. Split peas don’t need to be soaked and are ready in just 30 minutes.