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Djouaz El Hummus, Algerian Chick Pea Soup

A hearty Algerian soup made from chickpeas, lentils, onions, garlic, tomato paste, and spices.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

Djouaz El Hummus, Algerian Chick Pea Soup

Timeabout one hour for the chickpeas

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the pulses

  1. Cook the chickpeas in a pot of water for about one hour.

  2. Add the lentils and cook for about 20 minutes.

  3. Drain and rinse the chickpeas and lentils under cool water.

  4. Remove the skins if desired.

Make the base

  1. Saute the onions, garlic, and tomato paste in olive oil for about 10-15 minutes.

  2. Add the chickpeas, lentils, spices, and about 1 tablespoon of salt or more to taste.

Simmer and serve

  1. Cover with water, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for about 15 minutes.

  2. Gently mash the chickpeas if desired.

  3. Serve with Kesra or Khobz.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

272Calories
7 gProtein
15 gFat
30 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 10 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Pea1/2 cup (72g)62
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Cayenne1 tsp (1.8g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Tomato + olivetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,539 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  3. Garlic + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,082 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Garlic + olivetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,665 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  5. Tomato + cumintop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,272 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Chickpeas (in the method)
Provide the main body and hearty texture of the soup.
Lentils
Soften during simmering and help thicken the soup.
Onion
Sweetens and builds a savory aroma as it softens in oil.
Garlic
Adds pungent aroma that mellows during gentle cooking.
Tomato paste
Adds concentrated tomato flavor, color, and depth after cooking down in oil.
Cumin
Adds warm, earthy aroma that blooms in the cooking fat.

The step that matters

Sauteing the onions, garlic, and tomato paste. Cooking them long enough in oil softens raw onion and garlic and deepens the tomato paste, so the soup tastes rounded rather than raw and sharp.

Swap the peas

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, clove, garlic, tomato, cumin, olive):

  1. Chickpeafits better
  2. Beansfits better
  3. Lentilsfits better
  4. Peasthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, clove, garlic, tomato, cumin, olive. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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