Fool Madamas Recipes

FUL MEDAMES

Steps:

• Pour the fava beans and the chickpeas together into a colander to drain. Rinse the beans in cold water.
• Transfer the rinsed, drained beans to a medium saucepan over medium heat, and add 1 and half cups of cold water. Season with cumin and kosher salt.
• Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low and let simmer uncovered for 20 minutes until most of the water is absorbed, smashing occasionally with the back of a wooden spoon to get the desired consistency.
• Meanwhile, combine all the ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl.
• When the beans and chickpeas are done cooking, serve the sauce on top or next to the ful medames. You can have stir half the sauce with the bean mixture and serve the other half on the side.
• Serve with fresh parsley on top along with warm pita, tomatoes and radishes.

MIDDLE EASTERN BEAN DIP (FOUL MUDAMMAS)

Steps:

• Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in a skillet over medium heat; cook and stir the onion in the hot oil until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the fava beans, garbanzo beans, and water to the onion; bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Stir the tomato paste, lemon juice, 1 tablespoon olive oil, the garlic, tahini, and cumin through the bean mixture; return the mixture to a boil and allow to cook at a boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Pour the mixture into a blender. Hold the lid of the blender in place with a towel and start the blender, using a few quick pulses to get the mixture moving before leaving it on to puree to your desired consistency.

FOUL MUDAMMAS

Steps:

• Smash garlic cloves with a flat part of the knife and remove the outer layers. Chop parsley.
• In a small skillet toast cumin seeds until you can smell intense aroma. Transfer to a pestle and mortar and grind.
• Heat the olive oil in a large skillet or pot and add the garlic cloves and cumin. Saute one minute and add drained Fava beans. Cover with water, put a lid on and simmer for about an hour or until beans are soft.
• Drain cooked beans through a sieve reserving the flavorful water. Let them cool down a bit and start shelling them. Make a small cut or tear a small opening on one end of a bean and squeeze the content back into the flavorful water. Throw away the shells.
• Bring back beans to a boil and using potato masher, mash them slightly. Add parsley, lemon juice and tomatoes and simmer few more minutes until slightly reduced and thick. Stir from time to time.
• At the end season with salt and pepper and serve with pita bread.

FOUL MUDAMMAS (EGYPTIAN FAVA BEANS)

Steps:

• In a cast iron skillet or saucepan, add the fava beans and ½ cup water. Warm over medium-high heat. Season with kosher salt and cumin. Use a potato masher or fork to mash the fava beans.
• In a morter and pestle, add the hot peppers and garlic. Smash. Add in juice of one lemon and stir to combine.
• Pour the garlic and hot pepper sauce over the fava beans. Add a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Top with chopped parsley, diced tomatoes, and a few slices of hot peppers, if you like.
• Serve with pita bread, sliced veggies and olives.

FUL MEDAMES

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.

FUL MEDAMES

Steps:

• Cover the beans with water and soak overnight. The next day, drain the beans and place in a large saucepan with garlic. Add water and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer, add eggs in their shells, the juice of the lemon and salt and pepper to taste. Cook the beans for 12 hours, or until tender, checking occasionally and adding water if needed. Into each individual bowl, place 1 tablespoon chopped scallion, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Peel the eggs and place one in each bowl. Peel the eggs and place one in each bowl. Spoon in the ful. Serve with Egyptian pickles and toasted pita.

FOOL MADAMAS

Steps:

• Stir all ingredients together in a saucepan.
• Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes, occasionally mashing the beans with the back of a large spoon.
• If the fool is being served for lunch, you might want to throw a little cayenne pepper or some diced chiles at this point.
• It's ready when the texture is somewhere between a soup and a paste - serve hot.