Hamin – Cholent

Hamin or Cholent is a traditional Jewish dish served on Shabbat. It is traditionally prepared on Friday, and then cooked either in a slow oven, or an electric slow-cooker or on a hot-plate, all night. There are so many variations of Hamin-Cholent – depending on where your family originated.
I have taken a bit from here and a bit from there, combining the many traditions that exist here in Israel.

I usually use a large slow-cooker to make Hamin; it is a perfect solution for the many hours of cooking, and it is easy to check up on the food as it cooks, and to add spices if necessary, etc.

Ingredients vary from home to home – as do the amounts. I will give here an approximation of how I make it – you can add ingredients, or change the amounts. Do allow it to cook for at least 12 hours on a low-medium heat, so that it turns a deep caramel color.

Hamin-cholent is a rather heavy dish, and is perfect for cold wintry Shabbat, followed by a leisurely siesta!

Ingredients:

• beef for goulash or stews, cut into very large chunks – use as much or as little as you want.
• 1-2 onions chopped or cut into chunks
• garlic – I usually put a whole head of garlic, with a quarter of the top cut off. This I put towards the top of the hamin so it doesn’t fall apart.
• 1 cup dry lima beans
• 1 cup pearl barley
• 1 cup garbanzo beans (optional)
• 1 cup wheat berries
• potatoes – approximately one per person
• 2-3 carrots peeled and cut into large chunks
• 6-7 dried and pitted prunes
• splash of ketchup
• canola oil (a few Tablespoons)
• sweet paprika
• sharp paprika
• black pepper
• salt
• chicken soup powder (optional)
• eggs ( at least one per person plus a few more….)
• a few Tablespoons brown sugar (or white sugar, which will also do the job).

Preparation:

1. Put lima beans in water overnight.
2. Put chickpeas in water overnight
3. Peel potatoes – if they are not huge, you can leave them whole; otherwise cut into large chunks
4. Rinse and drain pearl barley in strainer.
5. Rinse and drain wheat berries in strainer (if you don’t have the wheat berries, don’t worry; it’s purely optional)
6. Put some canola oil in large slow-cooker. Add onions, meat and then all of the ingredients and spices, leaving the head of garlic and eggs for last.
7. Add water to cover plus a bit more.
8. Start cooking. After a while, taste the liquid and adjust seasonings. You may need to add salt or pepper, or sugar, or paprika.
9. When it is cooking gently, and the liquid tastes “just right”, place the head of garlic on top, pushing it in slightly, and then place the uncooked eggs around the top, pushing them in a bit, so they are more or less covered by the bubbling liquid. The eggs stay in the hamin till the whole dish is ready; they turn a lovely light brown, and are extremely delicate when served with the hamin.
11. Cook or bake hamin overnight – at least 12 hours. Occasionally you can taste it to see if any adjustments are needed, and also you may need to add water a few times during the cooking, since the beans and barley all expand while cooking. Make sure it does not dry out, by adding enough water (but not too much!).
12. When finished cooking, remove the hard boiled eggs, and carefully peel them; when serving, put an egg on each plate.
13. Delicious served with salty pickles….!