Naoumi (النعومي) originally refers to a sweet snack prepared with crushed roasted chickpeas (Qdameh – قضامة صفراء) mixed with sugar and drizzled with orange blossom water (mazaher) and served in a paper cone. Our grandparents and even some of our parents are still fond on this snack which brings them back beautiful childhood memories. The recipe below originates from Rashaya el Wadi in the West Bekaa, known for its Qdameh production. Naoumi is here presented as small pieces of sweets, instead of powder, decorated with sesame seeds and served for visitors and guests.
Total servings: 40 pieces
Preparation time: 2 hours
Ingredients:
1 kg of roasted chickpeas (قضامي صفراء), finely ground
½ kg of liquid grape molasses
300 g of White Almonds coarsely ground
2 sachets of Mastic or Arabian gum (مستكة)
Roasted sesame for decoration
Preparation steps:
- In a bow, mix together the ground chickpeas and almonds together
- Finely pound the Arabian gum and add it to the chickpea and almond mixture
- Gradually add the grape molasses to the mixture while kneading the with hands until obtaining a cohesive and gummy dough
- Portion the dough into small balls then shape them as per preference and top them with the roasted sesame. Chocolate molds can be used to shape the Naoumi balls
- Leave at room temperature to dry and harden
- Store the “Naaoumi” sweets in a dry and airtight container.