For those like myself who don’t like spicy Thai restaurant food, this dish is quite excellent and ideal.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 20 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 6 cups water
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 3 cups dry green split peas
- 3 sprigs fresh parsley
- 1 dried red chile pepper
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch black pepper
Instructions
- Fry garlic in the vegetable oil in a large pot over low heat until lightly browned. Pour in water and olive oil; stir in split peas, parsley, chili pepper, paprika, cumin, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 55 minutes, stirring occasionally so that the peas do not stick to the bottom of the pot. When the peas are tender, mash them with a wooden spoon until smooth; stir in additional water to reach desired consistency.
Reviews
This is my favorite pea soup. I make it alot. 5 star rating. I follow the recipe completely.
I’m Egyptian and grew up with Bisara a constant and welcomed staple in our household! I just wanted to clarify Asma’s comment that the dish originated “somewhere in North Africa”. Bisara is actually an Egyptian dish from Pharaonic times. The word Beesara is derived from Hieroglyphic Bees-oro (bees- which means cooked) and (oro which means beans).www.chefindisguise.com
Following other’s suggestions, I doubled the spices. I did not follow the recipe as written. I added diced carrots & ham like I would for “pea soup”. After sauteing the onion I put everything in the crock pot on high and let it cook for several hours. When I tasted it, the flavor was great but the peas weren’t quite cooked completely. Silly me, I went to bed & forgot about it. When I got up, the aroma was fantastic. And, as another reviewer noted, when cooked down this makes a wonderful dip. lol It wasn’t intentional but the result was great. Will make again & try to get soup. lol
The ingredients are perfect for traditional Moroccan bissara, but it has to be blended in the blender in order to make it the perfect consistency. Mashing the peas with a spoon doesn’t work very well and it is still chunky.
Best soup ever.. easy to make full of flavor
Bissara is a Moroccan recipe. You can substitute peas for dried fav beans, cook them with the peeled garlic (I do it in a pressure cooker for half an hour), blend it until smooth, season it well and add olive oil. Sprinkle more cumin and paprika over the top and enjoy with bread.
It won’t let me give it any stars… But I would give it 5!
Super easy and pretty good! I feel like it needed something, I’m just not sure what. Overall, though: awesome. Thanks for the recipe!
thick and tasty
Love love LOVE this! I add a lot more garlic, chopped, and about 1.5 tablespoons of cumin. I’ve also made it using fresh jalapenos and it comes out great. If you make it thick instead of soup-like, it goes great with a big dollop of yogurt on top!
This is great for what it is — a basic spiced stew. I had a hard time getting my peas to cook completely (maybe old?), so I ended up with more of a lentil soup consistency than a paste-like stew which is what I had wanted. However, the flavors were great, this recipe is delicious, healthy and cheap, and I will try again with better peas!
Double the spices and its wonderful
I really wanted to like this, but thought it was average at best. Love everything in it, but I didn’t think it went well. Maybe lentils would be better? I love split pea soup with lots of thyme, it’s light and perfect for spring. This was very heavy!
I did this recipe using only olive oil and adding a ham-hock. It was delicious.
This was a great base, but actually a bit bland for my taste. I ended up adding more spices, carrots, and spinach. Next time I will definitely saute some onion with more garlic, black mustard seed, and a tomato, add garam masala, and more than double the spices. Unlike other reviewers, I don’t think this recipes NEEDS chicken stock or meat in it (though it would be great with meat, too) to make it taste “finished”, as long as the spices are right and it is given ample time to stew and mingle.
This is an Egyptian national dish. I’m from Egypt and this was a staple in my grandma’s house where I spent most of my childhood. I have to say it’s a bit of an acquired taste to like it. To clear any confusion, this is NOT supposed to be a soup. It’s a dip. We NEVER use peas, but always use fava beans. If you can’t get hold of that, then edamame beans could work. It’s best made with fava beans though and you scoop it up with flat bread. Chile pepper and paprika are not common spices in this. The traditional way of serving this is to serve it room temperature/cold with some fried onions on top. Delish!
Absolutely wonderful! Easy to make and with only a few affordable ingredients. I enjoyed it as a very creamy soup and also as a sauce on basmati rice. I will definitely make again!
Like most people I used less oil, and spiced it to my taste, but this is a great basic!
I substituted soy milk and vegan margarine to make this meal cruelty-free and it turned out wonderful!
I wasn’t sure I was going to like it but wow, it was really good. I made the recipe as written, except for adding a couple extra chili peppers. Thanks for sharing.
Very thick, porridge like soup! I love the chile pepper in this, next time I might even double the amount of it!