Ful Medames

Ingredients

• 2 tins of ful medames (fava beans), with their liquid
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed to a paste with salt
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• juice of 2 lemons
• 4 tbsp good olive oil
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• a big handful of parsley, chopped
• 1/2 red onion, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp tahini (optional)
• warm flatbread, to serve
• 1 tsp chilli flakes

Method

1. Warm the beans in their liquid

   Tip the beans and their liquid into a pan and warm through, adding a splash of water if they look dry. The tinned liquid is starchy and savoury and it becomes the sauce — draining it away leaves the dish dry.

   8 min

2. Crush some of them

   Mash roughly a third of the beans against the side of the pan with the garlic paste and cumin, leaving the rest whole. Fully mashed it becomes hummus; unmashed it is just warm beans.

3. Season generously

   Stir in the lemon juice, most of the oil and the tahini if using, and season hard. Ful takes a great deal of salt and lemon before it stops tasting flat.

4. Rest a moment

   Let it sit off the heat for a couple of minutes and thicken. It should be spoonable, not soupy.

   2 min

5. Load the toppings

   Top with the tomato, parsley, raw onion, chilli flakes and the rest of the oil. The raw, sharp toppings against the soft warm beans are the entire structure of the dish.

6. Serve

   Serve with warm flatbread to scoop it up. It is Egypt's breakfast and it will hold you until evening.