Egyptian Cuisine

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Ful medames (slow-cooked fava beans with lentils)

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Cuisine: Egyptian Prep time: 5 min(s) Cooking time: 5 hr(s) 20 min(s) Servings: Serves 6 Created by Alice Ibrahim

This national dish is of slow- braised fava beans with lentils is traditionally cooked overnight in a copper pot so it is ready for a hearty breakfast. It is typically eaten with Egyptian bread as a tasty and filling start to the day, particularly during Ramadan when Muslims fast during daylight hours. It pairs beautifully with many spicy, crunchy treats such as the bright-pink pickled turnips (coloured with beetroot) and crunchy pickled cucumbers that are sold in Middle Eastern food stores. For a sandwich-style snack, serve the ful in a pocket of flatbread with fresh salad, tahini, pickles and banana chillies. 

You will need to begin this recipe one day ahead.

Ingredients

2 cups - dried fava beans (broad beans), rinsed and soaked overnight
1 cup - red lentils, rinsed and soaked overnight
salt and pepper
ground cumin
lemon juice
olive oil

Preparation

Soaking time: overnight

Level of difficulty: easy
 
Drain the soaked beans and lentils and rinse again. Place them in a large saucepan and cover with 750 ml of water. Boil over high heat until frothy. Skim the froth as it accumulates then cover the saucepan and simmer on the lowest heat for up to 5 hours or until the beans are very soft and the liquid has reduced. The ful thickens as it cools, so be careful not to reduce the liquid too much.

Add salt, pepper, a generous amount of cumin and lemon juice to taste. Drizzle a liberal amount of olive oil over the top.


SBS cook’s notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55–60 g, unless specified.

Egyptian Restaurants

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Displaying 4 of 4 Egyptian Restaurants.

Restaurant Suburb
1. De Bortoli Winery and Restaurant Dixons Creek
2. Princess Jasmine Punchbowl
3. Made In Africa Ethiopian Restaurant Moorooka
4. Cupido Carlton
   
11 Feb 2013 11:31 AEST
Linda
Balaclava
Hooked
Okay... I didn't follow this recipe exactly. I saw the program, madly scribbling down the ingredients. I happened to have a can of lentils and a can of butter beans, so I washed them and threw them in the pressure cooker (Sorry; impatient cook!) with chicken stock, and freshly ground cumin, salt, pepper, and szechuan pepper. An hour and a half later, I mashed them and added a tablespoon of Ghee. Had my first breakfast today, and I am hooked. I know it's not traditional; but WOW.
20 Nov 2012 11:27 AEST
David
Yallambie
Love It
Its a fantastic start to the day in Spring when you can pick your own beans one day and have a wonderful week of breakfasts after. Sensational!
28 Jul 2012 02:38 AEST
Rabeah
Kuwait
Interesting
Not bad I just had it a minute ago! I added red pepper paste and a pinch of red chilli while cooking for a spice kick (fool bel shatta). It tasted good, but really should be salted as per preference. And easy on the cumin, I didn't and it ate up all the flavor. Good with salad and/or fresh greens and garlic yogurt.
16 Mar 2012 02:46 AEST
Leanne
Jeeralang Junction
delicious vegetarian stuff, thankyou
yummy stuff, thanks SBS! and a note to those having trouble with the cooking time, remember hard skinned pulses won't absorb water and soften if you add salt early on in the cooking process, salt in at the end (if at all). delicious with a bit of chilli if you're into it, or some finely chopped parsley and yoghurt...so much food, such a short life
28 Mar 2011 05:43 AEST
em
ingham
to sarah
you obviously need to soak them!! thats why you had problems.
02 Mar 2011 10:35 AEST
Romey
South Yarra
Servings
Hello! Saw this on the show and it looks delicious, but seeing as there is only my dad and I, I don't want to make too much.. just wondering, how many people would this serve? Thank you! x
28 Sep 2010 08:03 AEST
Sarah
Woolloomooloo
disappointed
i have to say i am slightly disappointed by this recipe. After watching the show i immediately bought the beans and followed the recipe exactly as stated on the show. Once simmering i found the water kept evaporating and i had to continuously add water. what ended up happening was it burned on the bottom of the pan and i got extremely frustrated and took it off the stove and gave up!!!!! so what exactly went wrong. admittedly i didn't soak the beans overnight as they never mentioned that onshow
30 May 2009 09:03 AEST
Norma
Northbridge
Chili!
Someone forgot the red chilli!!! No chilli, no ful for me :)
12 Feb 2009 03:02 AEST
Steven
Brisbane
Delicious
Can't wait to try it. Brings back memories of Cairo - I loved the stuff there. Maeve, I agree with Joe, can we get the recipe for the salad posted here as well please?
07 Feb 2009 03:51 AEST
maeve
kismet productions
baharat - Egyptian style
To answer Joe, Ramy Megalaa who was in teh show says: You will find that Baharat or spice mix prepared across Egypt will differ from one region to the other and it can even differ from one house to the other, that's in regards to the amount. however, the ingredients should be the same and the one i use myself at Tagine is Equal Quantity white pepper & cinnamon to half quantity black pepper, nutmeg and cloves. Hope that helps.
16 Jan 2009 03:38 AEST
Simon Shaw
Yokine
Great, needs a lot of cooking.
Great meal. Very filling though so be warned. I think I didn't cook it long enough though, overnight probably is best! Some beans were still a bit firm. Joe, I can paste recipe for Baharat if you like?
13 Dec 2008 12:49 AEST
Joe
Thornbury Vic
Ful Medames
It's mouth-wateringly delicious! But where's the recipe for the accompanying Egyptian Salad as shown in the Video? For that matter, where's the exact recipe for Egyptian-style Baharat Spice Mix that's such a feature of Egyptian cuisine?

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