Hommus Khawali

Or a Syrian hommus with a difference

Syria is free, or at least free from the evil dictatorship of the Assad clan. As many of you will know, I am half Syrian and until the uprising, I used to lead culinary tours there, giving those on the tour a taste of the many Syrian culinary delights as well as showing them some of the world’s most beautiful historical sites such as Palmyra (once a matriarchal kingdom) and Apamea (boasting the longest colonnaded Roman street in the world). It was on the way to Apamea that I once came across farmers burning frikeh in the field — they had just harvested the wheat still green and were burning it to give frikeh its unmistakable smoky flavor before drying and cracking it; until that day I had never seen frikeh being processed and I immediately told our driver to stop for the group to go down and see the farmers at work.

I discovered many new dishes on these tours such as the beetroot mutabbal that Maria Gaspard, our cooking teacher, showed us how to prepare — this dip has now gone global. I also discovered hommus khawali, a hommus with a difference where the dip is made without garlic (very Syrian), but with added pepper paste and pomegranate molasses. The dip is called after the restaurant Khawali, an eatery set in a wonderful multi-storied 14th century building with an inner courtyard and a fountain in Damascus. And until Naranj (another restaurant where they serve regional specialities) opened, Khawali was the place to eat in Damascus.

I had never had that variation before, neither in Syria nor in Lebanon, let alone Turkey and when I asked the maitre dit where it was from, he said it was particular to the restaurant owner. He very kindly gave me the recipe which I am sharing with you here. The picture above is of the hommus at Khawali, where it is served in a square plate rather than a round one and drizzled with both olive oil and pomegranate molasses.