Warm chickpeas dressed with cumin, lemon, garlic, and olive oil — a simple Damascene breakfast.

Where does Balila come from?

Balila is a Syrian dish from Damascus, Syria.

Can Balila be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?

Yes. This Balila recipe includes ingredient substitutions to make it vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, or egg-free — including several of those at once, such as gluten-free and dairy-free together.

How long does Balila take to make?

About 15 minutes total (5 minutes prep, 10 minutes cooking), serving 4.

Balila — a Damascus, Syria recipe

Name: Balila
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Syrian
Ingredients: 3 cups cooked chickpeas with a little liquid; 3 cloves garlic, crushed; 1 tsp cumin; 1 lemon; 1/4 cup olive oil; to taste salt; a handful parsley

Asia → 🇸🇾 Syria → Damascus

Balila

Syrian · easy · serves 4

prep 5 min · cook 10 min

~546 cal · 28g protein · 91g carbs · 10g fat (estimated, per serving)

🍽️

Warm chickpeas with cumin, lemon, and olive oil

🇸🇾 Damascus

Balila is a quick, warming Damascus breakfast of chickpeas gently heated and tossed with cumin, garlic, lemon, and a generous pour of olive oil. Bright, nourishing, and cheap, it is scooped up with flatbread and often topped with a little tahini or a sprinkle of chili to start a Syrian morning.

Sign in to save recipes to your book and leave reviews.

Make it yours

Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.

🥕 Vegetarian

🌱 Vegan

🌾 Gluten-Free

🥛 Dairy-Free

🥜 Nut-Free

🥚 Egg-Free

Ingredients

Serves 4 —

•

3 cups cooked chickpeas with a little liquid

•

3 cloves garlic, crushed

•

1 tsp cumin

•

1 lemon

•

1/4 cup olive oil

•

to taste salt

•

a handful parsley

Instructions

1

Warm the chickpeas in a little of their liquid.

2

Stir in the garlic and cumin.

3

Add the lemon juice, olive oil, and salt and toss well.

4

Mash a few chickpeas to thicken if you like.

5

Top with parsley and serve warm with flatbread.

Damascus tradition.

Ratings & reviews

Sign in to rate this recipe once you’ve cooked it.

No reviews yet — be the first to cook it.

🌏 While it simmers — know your destination

📍

Damascus. One of the oldest cities on Earth, still setting the mezze table.

🗺️

Syria. Aleppo and Damascus — pantries of the ancient world.

🌍

Asia. From street-cart woks to slow monastery kitchens.

The story behind this dish is up top — worth a read while the pot works.

👩‍🍳

Richard Moore & Kelsey Tucker

Recipes cooked, tested, and researched by the creators of Spin the Globe. How we build our recipes →