Easy Ful Medammes Recipe

If you enjoy hummus, you will definitely like ful, which is a Middle Eastern fava bean dip reminiscent of the better-known spread made with chickpeas. The traditional way to enjoy it is scooped up with warm pita bread for breakfast, though it can be eaten at any time of day. This recipe is super simple—no boiling of dried beans required. It uses canned fava beans, which saves a lot of time and effort, as dealing with dried ones is a labor-intensive process.

Fava beans, also known as broad beans, are probably second to chickpeas in their use in Middle Eastern cuisine and particularly in Egyptian food. The word ful is, in fact, Egyptian for fava bean. They are a common ingredient in falafel and are sold fresh, dried, or canned. This recipe, ful medames, is considered the national dish of Egypt. It consists of a stew made with cooked fava beans, oil, cumin, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, and sometimes, chile pepper. When favas aren't being cooked into ful medammes in Egypt, they enjoy lots of other preparations: they're often fried, salted, and spiced, and then sold as a savory street snack, for example. In Turkey, they're pureed and turned into a snack; they can also be turned into a bright green soup.

Fava beans themselves grow in a leathery pod and are generally harvested and eaten while still young and tender. Preparing them involves removing them from the pods, similarly to the way peas are removed, and then they are steamed or parboiled to loosen the second exterior coating, allowing it to also be removed before using the bean. Fresh fava beans, when in season, can often be found at stores that sell gourmet produce or at farmers' markets. Fortunately, this recipe doesn't require any of that extensive prep—it uses canned favas, which, along with dried favas, can be found in specialty gourmet shops, online, and in some grocery stores.