Fava beans or ful in Arabic.

Ful Medames or ful mudammas (my spell checker keeps wanting to change ful to fun) are slow-simmered [dried] fava beans stirred with olive oil, garlic, and lemon juice. It’s a common dish throughout the Middle East. In Egypt, ful medames is practically the national dish, sold in restaurants, ful shops, and street vendors alike. It’s often eaten for breakfast.

Initially, I made this dish with canned fava beans, though have since graduated to dried fava beans, which have better taste and texture. That being said, it takes about three hours to cook the dried fava beans until tender and buttery; cooking time might vary depending on age of your beans. I also forgot to soak the beans overnight, so perhaps this added to the cooking time. Just drop the fava beans into a pot of boiling water and let them simmer for several hours. You could always cook the dried beans in advance. They’ll keep for about a week in the fridge, stored in their tasty cooking broth.

Chunky or smooth…

That’s up to personal preference. Keep the beans whole or mash them up, or perhaps something in between.

Flavorings…

Lots of cumin, garlic, and lemon. Perhaps, dried mint, red pepper flakes (Aleppo is typical in Syria), or other varieties of pepper (hot smoked paprika is nice, though not traditional).

As for the toppings…

Depending on its country of origin — Egypt, Iraq, Syria, or Yemen — you may find variations in how ful is prepared. Topped with extra virgin olive oil or clarified butter (or ghee) or tahini sauce. Served with chopped eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, black olives, etc.

Lastly, make sure you have plenty of warm pita for sopping up the fava. A must!

Look for the small dried variety of fava like these…

Ful Medames (Fava Beans)

2 cups small dried fava beans
1/3 cup olive oil
5 to 6 cloves of garlic minced
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/3 cup parsley
Juice of 1 lemon
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

Serve with any or all of the following:

hard-boiled eggs
Chopped tomatoes, cucumber, and/or onion
Extra virgin olive oil or clarified butter
Tahini Sauce (recipe below)
Pita

Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add dried fava beans. Bring to a boil, decrease heat, and simmer 30 minutes. Add the olive oil and garlic and continue to simmer until the fava are completely tender, about 3 hours (depending on the age of the beans). The beans should be soft and buttery.

Depending on whether you like your beans whole or mashed, you can mash 1/3 of the beans and stir them into the remaining beans.

Add the cumin, parsley, lemon juice, and salt to the beans. Taste, adding more lemon or salt as needed.

Divide the fava beans between bowls. Drizzle with either olive oil, clarified butter or tahini sauce if you like. Serve with desired toppings and plenty of pita.

Tahini Sauce

1/4 cup tahini
1 clove of garlic, grated or smashed to a paste
squeeze half lemon
pinch sea salt
~ 2 to 2 1/2 tablespoons water

Combine the tahini, garlic, lemon, and salt in a bowl. Stir to combine. Drizzle in the water and stir until thin, pourable consistency