Foul Mudammas Recipe
The joys of Middle Eastern cooking such as falafel, humous, baba ganoush, and tabouleh are all well documented, and recipes for each can be easily found by flicking through the pages of a TV chef’s hard back bestseller.
But in Egypt, the afore mentioned dishes would scarcely make an appearance without the company of their fava bean derived relative, Foul Mudammas.
In fact, foul and falafel are always sold in unison in Egypt, from outlets specialising in cooking the two Middle Eastern delicacies.
Made from mashing Fava beans, this little gem of a dish is widely under-eaten in the western world. In part this is due to its not very attractive appearance; it’s dark brown and found in country where travellers are wise to be bowel wary. But moreover it's due to a wide unavailability and lack of knowledge about this product. The name ‘foul’ (actually pronounced ‘fool’) doesn’t help matters either.
Normally eaten for either breakfast or lunch, foul is healthy, vegetarian, highly addictive and quick to prepare. If you’d like to cook Egyptian foul mudammas, follow the directions below.
Time to table: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
• 1 x Tin Foul Mudammas
• 1 x Sprig of Fresh Parsley
• 1 x Onion
• 1 x Lemon
• Olive Oil
• 1 x Tea Spoon of Cumin Powder
• 1 x Clove of Garlic
• 1 x Fresh Chilly
Directions:
1. Go to any Arabian or Turkish food store and buy a can of Foul beans. Some other Asian food stores also sell this product. Unfortunately it has not quite made it on to the shelves of mainstream supermarkets yet.
2. Empty the tin into a sieve and rinse thoroughly.
3. Heat some olive oil in a pan, when it gets hot add one chopped clove of garlic, one chopped chilli, the onion (diced) and a teaspoon of cumin powder.
4. Stir together and allow to sizzle on a medium heat for one to two minutes.
5. Add Foul Beans to pan.
6. Add one table spoon of fresh lemon juice, and two more table spoons on olive oil.
7. Stir continuously for five to ten minutes until the foul has become mushy. Ideally it should appear ‘half mush/ half beans’, although you can adjust this at your own discretion.
8. When it takes on the appearance describe above, add another splash of olive oil, sprinkle some fresh parsley on the top and serve quickly.
Foul Mudammas is usually served in pita bread sandwiches with humous and salad. If you want to eat like a true Egyptian, consider alternating sandwiches between foul and falafel.
