Ful Medames

Breakfast of peasants. And of champions.

Ingredients

1 cup dried fava beans (soaked overnight)
1 onion (diced into semi-rounds)
2 cloves garlic (smashed)
1 green bell pepper (slivered)
3 tomatoes (diced)

1 tbsp powdered cumin
1 lemon
1/2 cup diced parsley
salt and pepper

Recipe

The notes to this recipe are much more valuable than the recipe (which is "obvious.")

Firstly, you need the small fava beans not the bigger ones.

The soaking of the fava beans also matters. The CC is guessing it has something to do with the age of the dried fava beans.

The CC has made this before, and the recipe was always good. Then, accidentally, the CC was forced to delay making the thing so he rinsed the beans after 24 hours, and resoaked them for another 24, and the recipe totally blew his mind.

Here we go:

First cook the beans in water, and while they cook keep skimming the scum that rises to the top. There will be plenty of "nasty stuff". Depending on the soaking, takes between 40 mins to an hour till they are adequately soft.

The skin of the fava beans will never soften. It's an "added feature" or an "acquired taste" of this particular recipe. Deal.

After that's done, in a separate vessel, fry the onions and the garlic at medium low heat. Then fry the bell peppers. Then add the cumin, salt, pepper and tomatoes. Finally the fava beans lightly crushed. Heat for about 10 mins or so.

Right before serving, mix in the lemon juice and the parsley.

Another trick is to split the bell peppers into two piles, and add some at the end thus getting two textures from the same ingredient.

(And just for the record, the pita below was home-made.)

Ful medames