Foul Medames

I love cooking and posting simple recipes that are so quick to cook and yet savoury and wholesome. Foul Medames aka Ful is an Egyptian vegetarian dish made of fava beans and is the epitome of wholesomeness. The most common way to cook these beans is to find the canned variety. I find that the Ma Ling chinese canned Foul to be great in taste and texture. After rinsing, just boil in half a cup of water on medium heat for 5-10 minutes. What makes this dish special is all the stuff that you will add inside and on top of it once it is cooked. I usually boil it with one crushed garlic and 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder and once I feel the beans are soft, I remove off the heat add salt, crushed black peppers and mush half the beans with a fork. I pour in one cup lemon juice, 1/3 cup olive oil and mix it all up. I start layering the cut up vegetables on top: chopped onions, baby ripe tomatoes, parsley, green peppers and green thai chillies (heat from the cooked beans soften the vegetables ever so slightly yet remaining raw and crunchy. I did not write up a specific measurement as you really should add what suits your taste. When I make this I usually use two canned beans and therefore one crushed garlic per can and half teaspoon cumin per can. So the whole lemon is for two cans. Again what brings out the flavour of the beans is the lemon, olive oil and fresh vegetables you add. It is usually dipped and eaten with pitta bread, using your hands! Bon Appetit.
chichineni
March 9, 2015
Ahh my favourite!! so glad you put this up – I’ve been meaning to make this for years! Think I may still have a can of those Ma Ling beans somewhere..Thanks Lara xx
Glenda
March 9, 2015
Lara, that sounds fantastic and simple.
kitchenbutterfly
March 12, 2015
Interesting. I had these when I was in Dubai – apparently, the brother to Baked Beans. The addition of cumin is a nice touch.
emirati food
January 25, 2017
very delicious food