Ful Medames Recipe (Egyptian Fava bean)

Ful Medames is an Egyptian Fava Bean recipe that is seasoned with ground cumin, chopped garlic & coriander leaves, served with extra virgin olive oil, and topped with chopped parsley. It is a popular staple food in Egypt and is considered their national dish.

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• What is Ful Medames?
• Recipe Ingredients
• Step by Step Instruction
• What serve this with?
• Variation and Tips
• Other recipes to try
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• 💬 Comments

When I was living in the Middle East (Kuwait & Jordan) as a kid, I had the chance to try many delicious Arabic cuisines. What I’ve learned there is that they serve many kinds of vegetarian dishes that are eaten mostly during breakfast and dinner.

You will notice that we have so many kinds of healthy vegetarian dishes such as falafel, hummus, tahini, and baba ganoush.    

In this post, I will like to share with you one of my favorite healthy breakfast dishes called Ful Medames.

What is Ful Medames?

Ful Medames or Foul Medames is a vegan dish that is made using a type of broad bean called fava bean. Unlike Kidney or Black beans, the Fava bean has a nutty and buttery flavor with a creamy texture. It is rich in fiber, iron, and protein which makes it a perfect healthy breakfast dish. But you can also serve this during dinner if you like which I learned from my Jordanian relatives.  

This Egyptian Fava Bean dip is similar to other Arabian dip dishes such as Baba Ganoush or Hummus and the texture is similar.  This is best to serve with pita bread or kuboos. 

This is actually a simple recipe to make since you are only using a prepared fava bean canned which I bought from a Middle Eastern grocery store.

Recipe Ingredients

Here are my recipe ingredients I used to make a Foul Medames:

Fava Bean: I am using a canned fava bean the brand is California Garden. It would not matter which brand as long as it is a Fava Bean.

Herbs and Spices: To enhance the flavor of this dish, you will need ground cumin, paprika, coriander leaves, and garlic.

Extra-Virgin Olive Oil: I use this oil when sauteing the red onion, garlic, and fava bean, and when drizzling it before serving.

Water: To make the texture of this Egyptian Fava Bean creamy, I added ½ to 1 cup of water. But if you don’t like a bit thick or less water, you can add ½ cup only.

Topping: When serving, I like to top it with chopped parsley. It is just optional but I think it gives a good presentation of this dish.

Step by Step Instruction

Firstly, I added extra virgin olive oil to the pan. Once hot, I added the chopped garlic and red onion. Stir for a few minutes before adding the fava beans and water.

So that it can have a creamy and soft texture, I use a potato masher to mash the fava beans but not all of them. After that, I added different spices including ground cumin, chopped coriander leaves, and paprika. 

Lastly, before serving, I topped it with chopped parsley and drizzled it with extra virgin olive oil. 

What serve this with?

My Jordanian relatives usually serve this during breakfast or dinner and we tend to eat it with other meze dishes. This includes hummus, scrambled egg, aubergine dip, falafel, different cheeses, and salad. Of course, a meze platter is not complete if you don’t have pita bread or kuboos.   

Variation and Tips

• If you want to make it spicy, you can add green pepper or chili pepper.
• This Egyptian Fava Bean can last up to 5 days when stored in the fridge.
• You can add sumac or lemon juice for a mild acidic taste
• To make the texture creamier, you can add tahini to the fava bean.

Other recipes to try

Here are other delicious Meze dishes to try

• Makdous
• Warak Enab

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