Ful (rhymes with cool) medames is a sleep inducing
breakfast dish. There is a science behind why it floors some people so my
cousin tells me. I was not too keen on it as a child; the smell whilst it's cooking is nothing short of bizarre and brown food is always going to be a hard
sell, whatever you decorate it with. Now it one of my favourite
dishes. It is pure comfort food (great for a hangover) cheap to make, fresh and easy. There are a lot
of variations on how to make it both between and within countries; in Egypt
ful is a staple food and served generally quite plain. The levant prefers to
jazz the whole affair up with parsley, olive oil, tomato, onion garlic and spices. Everyone tends to think that their style is the
best; canned beans, dried beans, all mashed, part mashed, not mashed, garlic or
not, tomatoes or not, to combine with chickpeas or not and so forth;
essentially fava beans are the only given.
You can get good quality canned
beans, which avoids the overnight soak / boil for 2 1/2 hours / drain /
reserve liquid, store, reheat which is a bit time consuming. My dad likes to boil loads of beans, separate into zip lock bags and freeze. Best of both worlds. Fresh is best but time is time. The canned beans are readily
available in Turkish shops. Look near the chickpeas and avoid the beans mixed with other flavoured things.
Ingredients - enough for 4
1 can of fava beans
1 can of chickpeas
Juice of one lemon
2 spring onions finely sliced
2 medium green chilli
peppers finely chopped or more if you like spice.
Cumin - 1 heaped teaspoon of toasted seeds crushed
Ground coriander - I level teaspoon
1 cloves of garlic crushed or finely chopped
2 tomatoes peeled and finely
chopped
Large handful of chopped parsley
Small handful of chopped mint
Olive oil
Salt - to taste
First heat up the beans.
There will be juice in the can of fava beans, which will need to be added to the pan as well
as the beans. However the chickpeas should have the water drained and give them a rinse. Simmer them in a pan on the hob for approximately 15 minutes.
Meanwhile peel and chop the tomatoes. To get the skin off place the tomatoes in
boiling water for 5 minutes, then run them under the cold tap. Chop to a small
dice removing the seeds and core.
To make the 'topping' take half
the chopped tomato and combine it with the sliced spring onion, one of the
chilli's, half the parsley and half of the mint. Sprinkle on some salt, a
splash of lemon, drizzle in some olive oil, toss and set aside.
When the beans are ready put them
in a bowl. I used to go for a whole mash but now I mash half and keep the other half whole; the flavours combine but the texture of the beans remains. Combine the mashed and unmashed and add the remaining chopped tomato, garlic, remaining lemon
juice, cumin, chilli, a glug of olive oil, the remaining parsley
and mint and combine it well. Put the beans on a plate, spoon on the topping
and drizzle the dish with more olive oil. Eat it with fried eggs sprinkled with za'atar and pitta.
