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Ful Medames (with topping ideas)

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Ingredients

For the beans:

  • 2 quarts water
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 2 1/2 cup dried fava beans
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed through a press or finely minced
  • 3/4 tsp salt, or to taste
  • 1/2 cup chopped parsley or cilantro

Optional toppings (choose 2 to 3… or all 12!)

  • Serve with pita Bread, warmed in the oven for a couple minutes (semi-mandatory, unless you hate bread)
  • More garlic, crushed through a press or finely minced
  • 1/2 of 1 red onion, thinly sliced or minced
  • 2 lemons, sliced into wedges
  • 3 soft or hard boiled eggs, cut into wedges or halves
  • 3 medium tomatoes, diced
  • 1/2 of 1 English cucumber or 3 Persian cucumbers, diced
  • 8 to 10 radishes, thinly sliced
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons lightly toasted cumin
  • 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
  • 8 ounces feta (can also use 1 cup labneh or yogurt)
  • More parsley or cilantro

Instructions

  1. Pour the water and baking soda over the dried fava beans and stir until the baking soda dissolves. Let them soak overnight.*
  2. The next morning, drain away the soaking water and cover the fava beans by a few inches of water in a medium stock pot or skillet. Bring the water to a boil, and then lower the heat and simmer the fava beans for about 35 minutes, until they’re very soft (keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t disintegrate completely). If you don’t use baking soda or if your beans are old, they’ll take longer to cook.
  3. While the beans are cooking, prep the toppings.
  4. Once the beans are very soft, strain them in a colander.
  5. Place the now empty pot back over medium heat and let it heat for a couple minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of oil and add the garlic. Cook and stir over medium heat for 30 seconds, and then return the beans to the pot with the garlic and mash them up with the salt. Add one or two tablespoons of water if the beans are too thick (they will thicken a little more as they cool).
  6. Drizzle the beans with more extra virgin olive oil, and top with parsley or cilantro.
  7. Have guests build their own bowls, starting with the beans, then piling on their favorite toppings.

Notes

* If you don’t have time to let them soak overnight, you can cook them right from dry. It will just take a lot longer on the stove.