For the village in Iran, see Hamin, Iran. For the beef consomme heb in Syria, see Hamin, Syria.
Cholent was developed over the centuries to conform with Jewish laws that prohibit cooking on the Sabbath. There are many variations of the dish, which is standard in both the Ashkenazi and Sephardi kitchens. The basic ingredients of cholent are meat, potatoes, beans and barley. Sephardi-style hamin often uses rice or wheat kernels and chickpeas instead of beans and barley, and chicken instead of beef. Slow overnight cooking allows the flavors of the various ingredients to permeate and produces the characteristic taste of cholent. This refers to the old-time cooking tradition of Jewish families placing their individual pots of cholent into the town baker’s ovens that always stayed hot and slow-cooked the food overnight. Rabbinical prescription for keeping food hot for the Sabbath without lighting a fire.
In traditional Jewish families, Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and Mizrahi, cholent or hamin is the hot main course of the midday Shabbat meal served on Saturdays after the morning synagogue services. Lighting a fire and cooking food are among the activities prohibited on Shabbat by the written Torah. Thursdays and certainly not later than Friday afternoon. Originally called hamin, cholent originated in ancient Judea, as far back as the Second Temple period. As the Jewish diaspora grew with Jewish migrations into Europe, North Africa, and elsewhere in the Middle East and Central Asia, Jewish diaspora communities developed their own variations of the dish based on the local climate and the available ingredients. Ashkenazi-style cholent was first mentioned in 1180, in the writings of Rabbi Yitzhak of Vienna.
The idea of slow-cooking food in a way that conforms with Shabbat restrictions also spread beyond stews, as seen with jachnun a puff pastry of Yemenite Jewish origin. In modern Israel, cholent has become a dish widely available in restaurants. In 2013, cholenterias, casual restaurants specializing in cholent, emerged in Bnei Brak and the Haredi neighborhoods of Jerusalem, and became the premier night hangout areas for Haredi men between their Torah study sessions. These western Yiddish words are straight synonyms of the eastern Yiddish cholent. The Jewish people of Hungary adapted the Hungarian dish sólet to serve the same purpose as cholent. Sólet was likely modified by the Jewish people living in Pannonia when the Magyars arrived.
Adafina was popular in Medieval Judeo-Iberian cuisine, but today it is mainly found as dafina in North African Jewish cuisine. The Sephardic Jews of the Old City of Jerusalem used to eat a traditional meal called macaroni hamin that consists of macaroni, chicken and potatoes. It was traditionally flipped upside down when served, just like maqluba. Among Iraqi Jews, the hot Shabbat meal is called t’bit and it consists of whole chicken skin filled with a mixture of rice, chopped chicken meats, and herbs. Indian Jews in Bombay traditionally ate a similar dish of chicken and rice together with spices such as ginger, turmeric, and cardamon.
Ethiopian Jews traditionally eat a kosher version of doro wat on Shabbat called Sanbat Wat, a stew of chicken and hard-boiled eggs commonly seasoned with berbere, cloves, onions, and other savory ingredients. There are many recipes for making cholent. Ingredients vary according to the geographic areas of Europe where the Jews lived and according to the preferences of the cook. A common addition to cholent is kishke or helzel.