Ful Medames
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Overview
Ful medames is stewed fava beans dressed with olive oil, cumin, garlic and lemon, and it is Egypt's national dish. It is eaten at any hour, though breakfast is when it belongs most, and it is sold from carts across Cairo and Giza in the mornings. Traditionally it is cooked and served in a large metal jug, the qedra, over a very long slow heat, often overnight, which is why street ful has a depth that a quick home version does not. What the beans are dressed with varies endlessly: parsley, onion, chilli, tomato, hard eggs, tahini. Its versions across the region are worth knowing. In Somalia, fuul is a breakfast staple served with eggs and laxoox or canjeero flatbread, spiced with xawaash, the blend of cumin, coriander, cardamom, cloves, turmeric and more that makes it noticeably hotter than the Egyptian version. In Morocco it is bissara, made from fava beans and split green peas cooked with garlic, eaten especially in the north during cold weather. This particular recipe includes tahini, which is a Levantine addition rather than a classic Egyptian one, and it uses tinned beans rather than the overnight cook.
AFN Heritage Note
Ful medames is regarded as a national dish of Egypt and is particularly associated with Cairo and Giza. Related preparations include Somali fuul, spiced with xawaash, and Moroccan bissara made with fava beans and split green peas.
Ingredients
Dietary tags are provided by contributors as a guide, not verified by AFN, and they depend on the products you buy. If you have a serious allergy, check every ingredient yourself. Cooking, allergies and your own judgement
Directions
- 1
Put the garlic cloves, cumin seeds and a pinch of salt in a mortar and pestle and crush until the seeds are cracked and the garlic is in small, flimsy chunks. If you have no mortar and pestle, mince the garlic very finely.
- 2
Empty the fava beans with their liquid into a medium saucepan and combine with the tahini and garlic paste.
- 3
Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until the liquid retains some brothiness but turns thick and sauce-like, about 5 minutes.
- 4
Add the lemon juice and salt to taste.
- 5
Mash about a third of the beans with a potato masher to thicken, if you want.
- 6
Serve with toasted pita and a drizzle of olive oil.
Africook’s Notes
Personal notes from Nympha Nzeribe- Toast the cumin seeds and crush them fresh. Pre-ground cumin gives a fraction of the aroma and this dish has very few ingredients to hide behind.
- Keep the liquid from the tin. It is what makes the sauce, and drained beans give a dry, pasty result.
- Mash only some of the beans. The contrast between whole beans and thickened sauce is the texture the dish is after.
- Be generous with the lemon and the olive oil at the table. Ful is dressed as it is eaten as much as while it cooks.
- For a fuller version, top with chopped parsley, onion, tomato, chilli and hard eggs, all of which are standard in Egypt.
- Tahini is a Levantine addition rather than a classic Egyptian one. Leave it out for a plainer, more traditional Egyptian ful.
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