TRADITIONAL LUXOR, EGYPT, DISH: FUL MEDAMES
INSTRUCTIONS
Due to its geographical position, in Egypt Mediterranean cuisine is fused with African cuisine and typical Arab food. Dishes are generally simple, heavily seasoned with plenty of fresh herbs or spices.
Ful medames (فول مدمّس), or simply ful, are an Egyptian vegan breakfast made of cooked fava beans flavored with lemon juice and garlic, served with olive oil, chopped parsley and tomatoes. They are boiled in water until tender. Cooking them can sometimes take an entire night, so the beans are placed on the fire before going to bed so that they can be eaten upon waking for breakfast.
In the modern version, canned broad beans are used that are obviously already soaked, which saves time and produces an equally delicious result.
Ingredients
1 can 400 g. of ful medames (fava beans)
5 cloves of garlic, pressed
1 freshly squeezed lemon
1 tablespoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon of salt
1 small bunch of finely chopped parsley
1 tomato seeded and diced
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper or other optional red chili
olive oil to serve
Soak the beans overnight with a touch of baking soda to aid digestion. Rinse well, place in a pot and cover with water. Cook until tender. and season with salt.In Arab countries, ful medames are usually served with flat pita bread, hard-boiled eggs, onions, or diced tomatoes.
Add the overnight or canned broad beans with their liquid to a large pot and heat over medium heat for 10 minutes. In a bowl, combine the garlic, salt, and lemon juice. Transfer the heated broad beans to another bowl.
Using a mortar and pestle, mash the fava beans, until a little more than half of the mixture is pureed. Add the garlic, lemon juice and cumin mixture. Mix.
We add the Cayenne pepper (or other red chili) And serve the ful medames with a teaspoon of chopped parsley and tomatoes, and drizzle with olive oil.
We serve with pita bread, you can add chopped hard-boiled egg if you wish and enjoy.
Send me a photo of your dish to see how it turned out and I’d love to hear your comments and suggestions.
