The Ful Egyptian
Enjoy a taste of Egypt with this colourful brunch recipe from The Little Book of Brunch. Spiced fava beans are served alongside chopped salad, flatbread and eggs.
Introduction
Ful medames is a spiced fava bean stew often eaten for breakfast throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Besides being inexpensive and easy to prepare, this meal ticks lots of boxes for us: the beans are warming and saucy and cry out to be mopped up, the garlic tahini sauce adds a contrasting tang, the chopped salad a refreshing element of crunch, and the boiled egg makes it brunch. Serve with the three ingredient flatbreads or any other good bread.
Ingredients
2 tbsp | olive oil |
½ | small red onion, diced |
2 x 400g | tins cooked fava beans, rinsed and drained |
1 tsp | cumin seeds, ground |
½ tsp | ayenne pepper, plus extra for sprinkling |
2 | tomatoes, cored and chopped |
1 | lemon, juice |
1-2 | eggs per person, depending on hunger |
large handful | of parsley leaves, chopped |
salt | |
warmed flatbreads, to serve | |
For the chopped salad: | |
½ | small red onion, sliced into thin half-moons |
2 tbsp | lemon juice |
10 | cherry or plum tomatoes, quartered |
8 | radishes, quartered |
10cm piece | of cucumber, cut into similar sized chunks to the radishes and tomatoes |
drizzle | of olive oil |
For the garlic tahini sauce: | |
1 | garlic clove |
2 tsp | tahini |
½–1 | lemon, juice |
Method
Put a frying pan over a medium heat and add the oil. When warm, add the onion, garlic and a pinch of salt (to draw out the moisture) and cook for a few minutes, until softened and starting to caramelise. Add the beans, cumin, cayenne, tomatoes, half the lemon juice and 200ml water. Cook for 10–15 minutes over a medium to low heat until the tomatoes break down, and the liquid reduces to a reddish sauce. Taste for seasoning and adjust the salt, lemon juice and cayenne accordingly.
While the beans are cooking, give the onions for the salad a head start by putting them in a small bowl and covering with a tablespoon of lemon juice. Set aside.
For the tahini sauce, pound the garlic and a large pinch of salt to a paste using a pestle and mortar, then mix in the tahini. Add the lemon juice and a splash of water and mix until thin and drizzleable.
Put a medium pan filled with water over a high heat. When boiling, gently lower in the eggs and cook for 8 minutes. Remove from the heat immediately and run under cold water before peeling and slicing in half.
Add the remaining chopped salad ingredients to a bowl and mix together with the remaining lemon juice, a drizzle of oil and some salt.
To serve, put a large spoonful of salad on each plate, topped with a few lemony onions. Spoon on some beans, drizzle the tahini dressing over them, then top with parsley and a sprinkle of cayenne. Nestle the egg halves on the plate and serve with flatbread for mopping.