Toum is a popular ِArab garlic sauce used in shawarma wraps, falafel, and grilled meats. I’ve tried several recipes for this garlic dip but nothing satisfied me as this recipe. Easy, creamy with no raw eggs.
Toum (toummeyah)
Toum is a delicious garlic dip sometimes called toummeyeh as well. This garlic sauce is famous for being Lebanese, I am not sure about the origin though. It is a fabulous, garlicky dip with a texture like yogurt. Smooth and sleek to be served with almost anything.
Back then, in October 1997, I got my first salary. I was thrilled and so excited, my salary was big compared to others at this time as the IT industry was fairly new and booming in Egypt.
So, what to do with my first salary? I bought some stuff for myself as a way of thanking me for my hard work the last 6 years in college and after college studies, and I gave my family a big surprise by inviting them to this super expensive, super elegant restaurant in Egypt. It was a restaurant specialized in grilled meat.
And there, I was first introduced to this delicious garlic sauce. It is white, fluffy, garlicky, and super delicious with grilled meat. I was immediately hooked, I searched for the recipe and I found one that I have been using for years, it was an easy recipe and the outcome was very good, the only downside to this recipe is that it uses raw egg whites, which made me kind of uncomfortable at the time, add to that, this recipe would not last 6 hours even in a fridge so it cannot be prepared in big quantities.
Recently, we had a dear friend with severe egg allergy and although I knew that he will not touch it, I did not want to jeopardize his health or put him in danger in any way. So I had to come up with an egg-less recipe.
I’ve found a Lebanese recipe for toum that did not include raw eggs but it takes time to master as it was not easy to emulsify oil in a little amount of lime juice. Suddenly I remembered a recipe that my late father had told me about for this sauce using some kind of starch mixture. Finally I’ve reached the recipe that my dad was talking to me about. Here is a foolproof recipe -for lazy people like me – that is quick and easy but still delivers a nice delicious taste of toum.
The idea is simply to cook a soft paste of starch and water then in the blender add it to all the goodies that toum requires.. fair enough?
Try this one, I’m positive that you are going to love it.
Garlic dip – Toomeyah
Ingredients
- 4 large garlic cloves.
- 1/4 c oil.
- 2 tsp lime juice.
- 1/2 tsp salt – or to your liking.
- 2 Tbs corn starch.
- 1 c water.
Instructions
- In a pot over medium heat, add water and corn starch, stir vigorously until no lumps is there, keep stirring until the mixture is thick and creamy. Remove from heat and let it cool down.
- In a blender, add garlic,lime juice, salt and blend for a minute.
- Add the cornstarch mixture and blend until well combined. Slowly add the oil while the blender is running until until it is emulsified and smooth..
- You may serve immediately or chill until needed.*
This came out tasty and even better than the one I get from the restaurant here. I will be making this with chicken shawarma regularly. Thank you
Thank you Oscar for your feedback, I am happy you liked it.
I tried this recipe and I wasn’t sure how it’s gonna go. I’ve always thought that toumeyya has to have labaneh in it . That’s how I used to do it. For me it was a shock that how oil would solidify. I used hand blender to make it. I would just suggest to lower the salt a little May be use lemon juice in stead of lime because it’s less sour. I also thank this recipe because it’s the recipe that made me discover this really nice website. I was googling garlic sauce and it popped.
Thank you so much Aya for your sweet words, you made my day girl :). I agree with you lemon juice is less sour than lime, I am just used to using lime more than lemon as this is what we had the most in Egypt.
السلام عليكم
I love garlic sauce and this garlic dip looks so creamy, can’t wait to try it! وجزاك الله الخيران for linking to my Algerian cookies recipe in your most recent post.
Wa Alaykom Assalam Wa Rahmatollah Wa Barakatoh, Jazana wa eyakom dear. I love those cookies A LOT.
I was just going to say it looks like the Lebanese sauce they give with y shish taouk lol, amazing stuff, glad to have a recipe now.
Yep it is so well known with grilled meat and chicken in the Middle East. If you need a fluffier version go for the one made with egg whites, although I do not like the risk. I hope you’ll try it and tell me what do you think.
Yummy Yummy dip:)
Thanks a zillion ♥♥