Ful medames
Egypt’s beloved fava bean dish: warm, garlicky mashed beans drowned in lemon and olive oil, scooped up with pita and boiled eggs.
- 25 min total
- 15 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $2.39 a serving
- 500 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: I’d make this on a weeknight. It’s on the table in 25 minutes.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 4 large eggs
- 2 cans fava beans, 15 oz cans, with their liquid
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 lemons, 1 juiced, 1 cut into wedges
- 2 Roma tomatoes, diced
- ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 4 pita bread, warmed
From your pantry
- ½ cup water
- 1½ tsp ground cumin
- ¾ tsp salt
- 3 tbsp olive oil, divided
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
Each serving has about 500 calories, 25 g protein, 66 g carbs and 16 g fat, and costs about $2.39 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No lemons? Limes work.
- No fresh parsley? Cilantro works.
- No pita bread? Flour tortillas work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Put the eggs in a small , cover with water, and over high heat. Turn to medium and boil 10 minutes, then move them to cold water.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
Medium heatTimer: 10 min
Food safety: For the safest eggs, cook until the whites are fully set and the yolks begin to thicken. Dishes made with eggs are done at 160°F.
Meanwhile, tip the beans and their liquid into a medium saucepan with the water, garlic and cumin, and over low heat 10 minutes, stirring now and then.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 10 min
Mash about half the beans with a potato masher or fork, leaving the rest whole. It should be loose and spoonable, so add a splash of water if it’s thick.
Dolly’s tip: Ful is meant to be rustic. Some creamy, some whole is exactly right.Take it off the heat and stir in the lemon juice, salt and 1 tablespoon of the oil.
Taste: it should be bright and garlicky. Add more lemon or salt until it is.
the eggs and cut them in half.
Peel. Peeling means removing the skin with a vegetable peeler or a small knife. It takes off tough or bitter skins, though potato and carrot skins are fine to leave on unless the recipe insists.
How you’ll know: The color underneath is even all over, with no patches of skin left behind.
Spoon the ful into shallow bowls, with the rest of the oil, and top with the tomatoes, parsley and pepper flakes.
Drizzle. Drizzling means pouring a thin, slow stream over the top of something. A thin stream spreads a little flavor a long way.
How you’ll know: You see thin lines across the food, not a puddle collecting underneath.
Serve with the eggs, lemon wedges and warm pita for scooping.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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