Orange Blossom Water

Al-Hboub is prepared from peeled wheat berries cooked with rice, dried chickpeas, dried fava beans, dried white beans, almond halves, sugar, ground anise seeds, and ground fennel seeds. Then garnished with ground anise seeds, ground fennel seeds, desiccated coconut, almond flakes, slivered pistachios and sugar coated fennel seeds.

When People eat hboub they say (Aklana hboub la’n faraqna al-mahboub), it means (we ate hboub because we left the place we love, the place is Mecca and people miss Mecca after performing Hajj “pilgrimage to Mecca”), so they miss Mecca which is a place they love “mahboub” and they eat “hboub” to remember  Mecca. “Hboub” and “Mahboub” is a repetition of similar sounds in two words.

Let’s make Al-Hboub:

1. This is peeled wheat berries.

2. Measure peeled wheat berries.

3. Put peeled wheat berries in a pot and rinse with water in several changes, then cover with water.

4. Soak them for twelve hours.

5. Measure dried chickpeas .

6. Put dried chickpeas in a pot and rinse with water in several changes, then cover with water.

7. Soak them for twelve hours.

8. Measure Egyptian rice, and set aside.

9. Measure almond halves, and set aside.

After twelve hours

10. Bring soaked chickpeas and drain.

11. Cover dried chickpeas with water, and turn on heat.

12. Keep on high heat until boiling vigorously.

13. Once water is boiling vigorously, lower the heat and cook chickpeas until tender and you can peel them. For me, the whole time was 40 minutes  (steps 11 - 13 ) and the chickpeas were ready and could be peeled.

14. Peel the chickpeas.

15. Halve the chickpeas, and set aside.

17. Bring soaked peeled wheat berries and drain

18. Rinse peeled wheat berries in several changes with water, then cover with 900 ml water, and turn on heat.

19. Keep on high heat until boiling vigorously.

20. Once water is boiling vigorously, lower the heat and cook peeled wheat berries until tender and become cooked.

21. Take a little taste of wheat berries to be sure it is cooked. For me, the whole time was 25 minutes  (steps 18 - 21 ) and the peeled wheat berries were ready. Keep the wheat berries and the cooking water in the pot.

22. This is Egyptian rice (measured in step 8).

23. Rinse rice with cold water in several changes.

24. Soak rice in boiled water for 10 minutes, then drain rice and rinse it with cold water in several changes (you should do the (steps 22 - 24) while you are cooking the wheat berries (steps 18 - 21), so you can use the rice immediately after the wheat berries are cooked).

25. Add rice to the pot that contains the wheat berries and the cooking water and stir, keep on high heat until boiling vigorously.

26. Lower the heat, and cook the rice, take a little taste of the rice to be sure it is cooked, if it is still crunchy so it is not cooked. For me, the whole time was 20 minutes  (steps 25 - 26 ) and the rice was ready.

27. Once the rice is cooked add sugar, ground anise seeds, ground fennel seeds, and stir.

29, 30. Add almond halves and chickpeas halves, and stir.

31. Keep for 5 minutes on low heat.

32.Turn off heat, and serve immediately in bowls.

33, 34, 35. After serving in bowls, garnish with ground anise seeds, ground fennel seeds, desiccated coconut, almond flakes, slivered pistachios, and sugar coated fennel seeds

36. Keep at room temperature until cool

37. Then put in the refrigerator to cool, and serve cold.

Al-Hboub

From: Family Recipe / Servings: 2 - 3 People
PDF Text Only / Print With Images

60 g peeled wheat berries (Qameh Maqshour) Water, for soaking peeled wheat berries 20 g dried chickpeas Water, for soaking chickpeas 30 g Egyptian short grain rice 28 g almond halves Water, for cooking chickpeas 900 ml water, for cooking peeled wheat berries Boiling water, for soaking rice 10 - 12 tsp sugar, or adjust to taste 1 1/4 tsp ground anise seeds 1 1/4 tsp ground fennel seeds Garnish Ground anise seeds Ground fennel seeds Desiccated coconut Almond flakes Slivered pistachios Sugar coated fennel seeds

This is peeled wheat berries. Measure peeled wheat berries. Put peeled wheat berries in a pot and rinse with water in several changes, then cover with water. Soak them for twelve hours. Measure dried chickpeas . Put dried chickpeas in a pot and rinse with water in several changes, then cover with water. Soak them for twelve hours. Measure Egyptian rice, and set aside. Measure almond halves, and set aside. After twelve hours Bring soaked chickpeas and drain. Cover dried chickpeas with water, and turn on heat. Keep on high heat until boiling vigorously. Once water is boiling vigorously, lower the heat and cook chickpeas until tender and you can peel them. For me, the whole time was 40 minutes  (steps 11 - 13 ) and the chickpeas were ready and could be peeled. Peel the chickpeas. Halve the chickpeas, and set aside. Bring soaked peeled wheat berries and drain Rinse peeled wheat berries in several changes with water, then cover with 900 ml water, and turn on heat. Keep on high heat until boiling vigorously. Once water is boiling vigorously, lower the heat and cook peeled wheat berries until tender and become cooked. Take a little taste of wheat berries to be sure it is cooked. For me, the whole time was 25 minutes  (steps 18 - 21 ) and the peeled wheat berries were ready. Keep the wheat berries and the cooking water in the pot. This is Egyptian rice (measured in step 8). Rinse rice with cold water in several changes. Soak rice in boiled water for 10 minutes, then drain rice and rinse it with cold water in several changes (you should do the (steps 22 - 24) while you are cooking the wheat berries (steps 18 - 21), so you can use the rice immediately after the wheat berries are cooked). Add rice to the pot that contains the wheat berries and the cooking water and stir, keep on high heat until boiling vigorously. Lower the heat, and cook the rice, take a little taste of the rice to be sure it is cooked, if it is still crunchy so it is not cooked. For me, the whole time was 20 minutes  (steps 25 - 26 )and the rice was ready. Once the rice is cooked add sugar, ground anise seeds, ground fennel seeds, and stir. Add almond halves and chickpeas halves, and stir. Keep for 5 minutes on low heat. Turn off heat, and serve immediately in bowls. After serving in bowls, decorate with ground anise seeds, ground fennel seeds, desiccated coconut, almond flakes, slivered pistachios and sugar coated fennel seeds Keep at room temperature until cool. Then put in the refrigerator to cool, and serve cold.

Notes and Tips

Peeled wheat is known in Arabic as (Qameh Maqshour), to know more about peeled wheat click these links :
Package of peeled wheat
Peeled Wheat

Try to adjust the amount of sugar according to your taste, an important note about Al-Hboub that when you taste it hot you will notice that it is sweet, but when it cools you feel that it needs more sugar.

People like to add dried fava beans and dried white beans, before adding them you have to do the same steps that you applied to chickpeas.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 30th, 2010 at 3:52 PM and is filed under Syrian Baking and Desserts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.