ChickpeaCumineggPaprikaPepperTuna

Nargisse Benkabbou’s ‘tayb o’hari’ chickpeas, tuna and egg salad

Tayb o'hari is a popular street food made with dried chickpeas soaked in water, simmered until soft and and egg salad delicately seasoned with ground cumin, sweet paprika and just a touch of cayenne pepper. It always brings back childhood memories of summers spent in Morocco, when I'd hold my mother's hand tightly as we wandered around Fez's Old Town, listening to her chat with the vendors and stopping for snacks along the way. Tayb o'hari was one of her favourite street foods, and when she made it at home, she always added extra cayenne and salt, as I do today. For this recipe, I was inspired to add tayb o'hari to a tuna salad, which is garnished with soft-boiled eggs and a sprinkling of paprika and cumin - classic Moroccan spices.

Prep Time: 15 mins
Cooking Time: 15 mins
4 people

Used in this recipe

Ingredients

2 tbsp (30ml) olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
2 x 145g cans tuna (preferably in oil), drained
1/2 red onion (85g), finely diced
45g drained pitted green olives, quartered lengthways
2 eggs, at room temperature
50g rocket
10g coriander leaves
Lemon halves, to serve

chickpeas

2 tbsp (30ml) olive oil
400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 tsp ground cumin, plus more for sprinkling
1 tsp sweet paprika, plus more for sprinkling
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper or other chilli powder (optional)

Method

Combine the olive oil, vinegar and salt in a medium bowl and stir to blend. Add the tuna, red onions, and olives and stir to mix. Set aside. (The tuna can be prepared up to 2 days ahead and stored in a sealed container in the fridge.)
Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil. Gently add the eggs to the boiling water, reduce the heat, and simmer for 6 minutes for soft-boiled eggs (simmer for 8 minutes for medium-cooked eggs, or 12 minutes for hard-boiled eggs). Drain the eggs and transfer to a bowl of iced water for 5 minutes to stop the cooking process, then drain and peel.
Make the chickpeas: Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a low heat. Add the chickpeas, cumin, paprika, salt and cayenne, if using, and cook until the chickpeas are softened and warm, 5-7 minutes. Remove from the heat. (The chickpeas are best served warm, but they can be served at room temperature.)
Arrange the rocket on a large serving plate, scatter the coriander and marinated tuna over it, then scatter the chickpeas around the tuna. Arrange the soft-boiled eggs on top of the salad and carefully slice them. Drizzle the salad with olive oil and squeeze the lemon halves over the top. Sprinkle paprika and cumin over the eggs and serve.

Top Tips

This recipe also works with cannellini or butter beans instead of chickpeas.

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