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Ful medames
Warm fava beans with garlic and lemon
Ful mudammas: warm fava beans with garlic, lemon, cumin and olive oil
Ful mudammas is breakfast on both sides of the Levant: Cairo's street carts ladle it from huge copper pots at dawn, and in Beirut and Damascus small ful shops serve it on Sunday mornings to queues of families. Small brown fava beans are warmed in their liquid, partly crushed, then dressed at the table with garlic pounded with salt, plenty of lemon and cumin, a pool of olive oil and a heap of chopped tomato and parsley. Scoop it with flatbread and eat it with raw onion wedges, radishes, olives and mint. The mistake most people make is draining the beans and dressing them dry; the cooking liquid is what makes ful creamy, so keep some. Chef's tip: mash only about a third of the beans, so the dish is part silky purée and part whole bean.
- Total time
- 20 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ lb cooked small fava beans (ful)2 tins, with their liquid
- 4 oz cooked chickpeas (optional)drained
- ¾ tsp salt
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 green chillifinely chopped
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tomatolarge, diced
- ½ oz flat-leaf parsleychopped
To serve
- 1 small onion (optional)cut into wedges
- 6 radishes (optional)
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What you'll need
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (7)
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Tip 1 ¾ lb cooked small fava beans (ful) and their liquid, and 4 oz cooked chickpeas if using, into a saucepan. Warm over a medium heat for 6–8 minutes, stirring, until simmering gently and steaming hot.
8 minStep 2: Meanwhile crush 2 garlic cloves with ¾ tsp salt to a paste using a pestle and mortar or the flat of a knife. Stir in ¼ cup lemon juice, 1 tsp ground cumin and 1 green chilli.
Step 3: Take the pan off the heat and crush about a third of the beans against the side with a potato masher or fork. The mixture should be thick and creamy but still loose; add a splash of hot water if it looks stiff.
Step 4: Stir in half the garlic-lemon dressing and taste: it should be bright and lemony with a warm cumin note. Add more salt if needed.
Step 5: Spoon into shallow bowls, make a hollow in the top and pour in the rest of the dressing and plenty of ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil. Pile 1 tomato and ½ oz flat-leaf parsley on top.
Step 6: Serve warm with 1 small onion wedges, 6 radishes and warm flatbread for scooping (use a gluten-free one if needed).
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 330 kcal
- Protein
- 16 g
- Carbs
- 34 g
- Fat
- 15 g
- Fibre
- 11 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does ful medames take?
- About 20 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 10 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of garlic cloves?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
- What can I use instead of lemon juice?
- Lime juice, same amount.
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