Best Egyptian Fava Bean Dip Foul Mudammes Recipes

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FUL MEDAMES



Ful Medames image

The traditional Egyptian breakfast of dried fava beans is also the national dish, eaten at all times of the day, in the fields, in village mud-houses, and in the cities. Restaurants serve it as a mezze, and it is sold in the streets. Vendors put the beans in large, round, narrow-necked vessels, which they bury through the night in the dying embers of the public baths. Ful medames is pre-Ottoman and pre-Islamic.

Provided by Claudia Roden

Categories     Bread     Salad     Sauce     Garlic     Breakfast

Yield Makes 6 servings

Number Of Ingredients 9

2 cups small Egyptian fava beans (ful medames), soaked overnight (and left unpeeled)
Salt
1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
Extra-virgin olive oil
3 lemons, quartered
Salt and pepper
4-6 cloves garlic, crushed
Chili-pepper flakes
Cumin

Steps:

  • As the cooking time varies depending on the quality and age of the beans, it is good to cook them in advance and to reheat them when you are ready to serve. Cook the drained beans in a fresh portion of unsalted water in a large saucepan with the lid on until tender, adding water to keep them covered, and salt when the beans have softened. They take 2-2 1/2 hours of gentle simmering. When the beans are soft, let the liquid reduce. It is usual to take out a ladle or two of the beans and to mash them with some of the cooking liquid, then stir this back into the beans. This is to thicken the sauce.
  • Serve the beans in soup bowls sprinkled with chopped parsley and accompanied by Arab bread.
  • Pass round the dressing ingredients for everyone to help themselves: a bottle of extra-virgin olive oil, the quartered lemons, salt and pepper, a little saucer with the crushed garlic, one with chili-pepper flakes, and one with ground cumin.
  • The beans are eaten gently crushed with the fork, so that they absorb the dressing.
  • Optional Garnishes
  • Peel hard-boiled eggs-1 per person-to cut up in the bowl with the beans.
  • Top the beans with a chopped cucumber-and-tomato salad and thinly sliced mild onions or scallions. Otherwise, pass round a good bunch of scallions and quartered tomatoes and cucumbers cut into sticks.
  • Serve with tahina cream sauce (page 65) or salad (page 67), with pickles and sliced onions soaked in vinegar for 30 minutes.
  • Another way of serving ful medames is smothered in a garlicky tomato sauce (see page 464).
  • In Syria and Lebanon, they eat ful medames with yogurt or feta cheese, olives, and small cucumbers.
  • Variations
  • A traditional way of thickening the sauce is to throw a handful of red lentils (1/4 cup) into the water at the start of the cooking.
  • In Iraq, large brown beans are used instead of the small Egyptian ones, in a dish called badkila, which is also sold for breakfast in the street.

EGYPTIAN FAVA BEAN DIP (FOUL MUDAMMES)



Egyptian Fava Bean Dip (Foul Mudammes) image

This is a wonderful breakfast or brunch when you wake up ravenous and really need a protein hit. A Saudi friend taught me how to make this. P.S. If you live in the Seattle area, a little store in the Pike Place Market called The Souk sells fava beans in cans; The store has a lot of great food items.

Provided by Carol Bullock

Categories     Spreads

Time 35m

Yield 4 serving(s)

Number Of Ingredients 14

1 (15 ounce) can cooked fava beans or 1 1/2 cups cooked fava beans
1 small onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 large tomatoes, chopped
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin (but season to your own taste!)
1 dash cinnamon (but season to your own taste!)
1 dash clove (but season to your own taste!)
1 dash turmeric (but season to your own taste!)
1 dash cayenne (but season to your own taste!)
1 tablespoon lemon juice (or to taste)
salt
1 small potato, peeled and cooked, added when onion is cooking (optional)

Steps:

  • First, cook onion in vegetable oil until limp.
  • Add garlic and cook a little.
  • Add large chopped tomato and cook until it just starts breaking apart.
  • Add spices and lemon juice and stir.
  • Add fava beans and salt to taste.
  • Leave on low heat for about 15-20 minutes.
  • Put in blender and puree until smooth.
  • Place in serving dish and drizzle generously with olive oil.
  • Eat with Carol's pita bread (warm crusty french bread is good too).

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