Ful Medames

Ingredients

• 2 cups Broad Beans
• 1/3 cup Parsley
• Dash Olive Oil
• 3 Lemons
• 4 Garlic Clove
• Sprinking Cumin

Steps

1. 1

   As the cooking time varies depending on the quality and age of the beans

2. 2

   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

3. 3

   adding water to keep them covered

4. 4

   and salt when the beans have softened. They take 2–2 1/2 hours of gentle simmering. When the beans are soft

5. 5

   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

6. 6

   then stir this back into the beans. This is to thicken the sauce.

7. 7

   Serve the beans in soup bowls sprinkled with chopped parsley and accompanied by Arab bread.

8. 8

   Pass round the dressing ingredients for everyone to help themselves: a bottle of extra-virgin olive oil

9. 9

   the quartered lemons

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    salt and pepper

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    a little saucer with the crushed garlic

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    one with chili-pepper flakes

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    and one with ground cumin.

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    The beans are eaten gently crushed with the fork

15. 15

    so that they absorb the dressing.

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    Optional Garnishes

17. 17

    Peel hard-boiled eggs—1 per person—to cut up in the bowl with the beans.

18. 18

    Top the beans with a chopped cucumber-and-tomato salad and thinly sliced mild onions or scallions. Otherwise

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    pass round a good bunch of scallions and quartered tomatoes and cucumbers cut into sticks.

20. 20

    Serve with tahina cream sauce (page 65) or salad (page 67)

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    with pickles and sliced onions soaked in vinegar for 30 minutes.

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    Another way of serving ful medames is smothered in a garlicky tomato sauce (see page 464).

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    In Syria and Lebanon

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    they eat ful medames with yogurt or feta cheese

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    olives

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    and small cucumbers.

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    Variations

28. 28

    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.