Ful Medames

My travels are copiously rendered in annotated scrapbooks. Those photographs transport me magically in time. I pull out a hefty album of a cherished trip to Egypt. The memories are rife, the experiences reverberate, reminding us of ancient grandeurs, the constant Nile and never before eaten foods, like the ful medames.

Our guide treated us to a soft warm pita filled with a thick bean stew, each mouthful more delightful than the first. We ate standing up in a small dusty village outside Luxor, the ful sandwiched between warm pitas. This everyday roadside breakfast is ubiquitous in Egypt. Fava beans simmered with spices, spooned into a warm pita and topped with a chili garlic sauce. Remember those rangooni beans I was pondering? They came in excellent use here. Cooked beans are sauteed with onion and cumin powder, them lightly mashed  and topped with a zesty green chile, garlic and lemon sauce. All you need are warm pitas.. and your magic carpet ride begins!

FUL MEDAMES

Serves 6-8 as an appetizer

1 1/2 cups dried Fava Beans or Rangooni Val

1 Onion

2 tablespoons Olive oil

1 tablespoon Cumin powder

3/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt

2-3 Garlic Cloves

2 Green Chiles

1 Lemon

3 tablespoons Olive Oil

A pinch of Kosher Salt

Pita Bread

Cook fava beans till soft. Use an Instant Pot, pressure cooker or stovetop method. My unsoaked beans were cooked in a pressure cooker for 17 minutes.

Drain water from beans.

Chop onion into small dice.

Heat olive oil in a saucepan. 

Add chopped onion to hot oil and saute till light brown.

Ladle the beans into the oil. 

Season with cumin and salt. 

Mash the beans lightly. You want some of the beans intact and some mashed to give the stew thickness. 

Add a little water, enough to get a stew like consistency. 

Simmer beans for 15 minutes over a low flame.

Chop green chile roughly.

Pound green chile and garlic to a smooth paste. Scrape the paste into a bowl.

Add juice of lemon and rest of the olive oil.

Season with a little salt.

Mound the beans on a plate.

Top beans with chile garlic sauce. 

Warm the pita bread. 

Scoop some beans onto warm pita. 

Or eat like an Egyptian...sandwich beans and pita for a hearty meal. 

Food memories are comfort-laden experiences. I can see the street, picture the street vendor, remember that glorious taste of something I'd never eaten before.... all these feelings one bite at a time.

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