From Baghdad to Ramat Gan: A Traditional Iraqi Sabich Recipe Like Grandma Used to Make
A proper Iraqi Shabbat table. Sabich / Shaked Samakh. Despite its distinctly Iraqi roots, you will not find a dish called “sabich” on the streets of Baghdad. Culinary researchers note that combining all of these ingredients together, inside a pita, is a wholly Israeli invention. In fact, sabich as we know it today is a clear example of a dish born from the encounter between immigrant tradition and a new local reality, Israeli fusion at its best.
From Ramat Gan to the whole country, the stand on Uziel Street. The most accepted and historical version attributes the birth of the dish to Tzvi Halabi, nicknamed “Sabich,” and Yaakov Sasson, both born in Baghdad and who immigrated to Israel in the 1950s. In the early 1960s, the two opened a small stand on Uziel Street in Ramat Gan, very close to the terminal stop of Dan bus line 63. At first they sold burekas and pastries there, but bus drivers and workers in the area were looking for a more filling and nutritious meal. Out of homesickness and a desire to meet customers’ needs, Halabi and Sasson began filling fresh pitas with the ingredients of the Iraqi Shabbat meal they knew from their mothers’ homes. The brown eggs, eggplants, amba and salad were all stuffed together into a warm pita. That is how a new dish was born, fast, cheap, filling and easy to eat, perfectly suited to the lively pace of Israeli life. The success was immediate, and over the years the legendary stand moved to its familiar location on Negba Street in the city.
It all started with me. Tzvi Sabah’s stand in Ramat Gan / private collection
An intriguing journey from India to Baghdad. You cannot write about sabich without giving amba its due. The source of this yellow, dominant sauce is actually India, the word “amba” in Sanskrit means mango. During the 19th and 20th centuries, there were extensive trade ties between Jewish merchants from Baghdad and the Jewish community in Mumbai. The merchants brought spiced pickled mango to Iraq, where the recipe was adapted to the local palate and became the familiar sauce. With the mass immigration in the 1950s, amba made its way to Israel, and today it is the aromatic beating heart of the dish.
A tribute to Iraqi tradition. Chef David Carmi / Nicky Troak
A sabich table of grandfather Yaakov and grandmother Shulamit. Saturday morning in Kfar Shalem was a pleasant family gathering time, especially for the grandchildren, some of whom gathered on the balcony and some snacked in Grandma Shulamit’s kitchen. When everyone came together, the celebration began with the opening of the pot of tebit, which had spent the night gently simmering on a hotplate. The hard-boiled eggs, brown in color and with a distinctive aroma, were carefully removed, peeled by skilled hands, and served at the breakfast table along with the rest of the meal.
Delicious memories from Grandma’s house. Grandma Shulamit Carmi / private collection
A proper Iraqi Shabbat table. According to tradition, this table is a regular custom on Saturdays in the homes of Iraqi Jews who remain faithful to their culinary heritage, and these are the delicacies of the community spread across the lavish table. First and foremost are the eggs, cooked all night in the tebit pot until they turn a deep brown. After peeling, they are served alongside pitas, with slices of eggplant fried until deeply browned and slices of potato boiled until soft, making a wonderful addition to the dish. Also on the table, aruk patties, fried before Shabbat and reheated on the Shabbat hotplate before serving, a finely chopped vegetable salad with shifka, a sour salad of onion, sumac and parsley, and of course amba, an amba delicacy that enhances the flavors and adds a tangy note to the dish. Among the refreshing pickles are m'khalle, pickled turnip that refreshes every bite with a sour twist, alongside the Iraqi “pitzuchim,” large cooked fava beans with cumin and salt.
Israeli fusion at its best. Sabich / Shaked Samakh
And now to the point, a recipe for deconstructed sabich, the most delicious one you will make.
Ingredients: For the tahini * 1 cup raw tahini * 1.5 cups cold water * a pinch of salt
For the eggplants * 2 medium eggplants, peeled, cut in half and into 2 cm thick slices * 1 cup tempura flour * 1 cup cold soda water * 2 tablespoons chickpea flour * 1 tablespoon fine salt * 1 tablespoon amba powder * oil, for frying
For the eggs * 3 eggs
To serve * Druze pita * olive oil * amba * sweet arisa, optional * 2 plum tomatoes, quartered and seared on a hot grill pan * a handful of parsley leaves, stems removed
Method: 1. The tahini: Mix the tahini with the cold water and salt until a smooth cream forms, then refrigerate until serving. 2. The eggplants: Mix the tempura flour and soda water into a batter, and in a separate bowl mix the chickpea flour with amba powder and a little salt. 3. Heat oil in a pan, coat the eggplant slices in the seasoned flour, dip in the batter and fry until lightly golden. Transfer to a tray lined with paper towels. 4. The eggs: Boil the eggs in boiling water with a tablespoon of salt for 5 to 6 minutes, transfer to cold water and peel. 5. Serving: Place a spoonful of tahini cream in the center of the plate and arrange the rest of the ingredients on top, including arisa, amba, olive oil and seared tomato. Sprinkle with parsley and serve with warm Druze pita on the side. * You can also serve all the ingredients separately for self-assembly, and let everyone build their own sabich.
Come meet Chef David Carmi for a signing of his book “Iraqi Table” at the “Iraqi Table” publishing stand at the Sarona complex in Tel Aviv, between 15 and 18.6 from 17:00 to 22:00.
