Ful Medames
Fava beans crushed against the side of the pan with cumin and lemon, eggs cracked into the middle, eaten with your hands.
Why it works
Crushing only half the beans gives you a thick base that holds the olive oil and whole beans that still have bite, which is the whole texture of ful. Cumin seeds toasted dry for thirty seconds before anything else goes in taste nothing like ground cumin stirred into hot liquid at the end.
Method
- Toast the cumin seeds in the dry pan over medium heat for 30 seconds, until they smell warm and darken a shade. Tip onto the board and crush roughly under the flat of a knife.
- Return them to the pan with the oil and garlic and fry for 30 seconds only — the garlic should stay pale and smell sweet, not toasted.
- Add the beans, water, salt and chilli. Simmer for 4 minutes, crushing about half of them against the side of the pan with a wooden spoon, until it is stew-thick and the whole beans still hold their shape.
- Stir through the lemon juice and tahini. Make four wells, crack in the eggs, cover and cook 3 minutes, until the whites are set and the yolks runny.
- Scatter over the chopped tomatoes, onion and parsley, pour a thread of olive oil across the top and take the pan to the table.
For the toddler
Lift a couple of spoonfuls of beans out at the start of step 3, before the salt and chilli go in, and crush them smooth with a little water and a thread of the oil. A spoonful of tahini and a squeeze of lemon can still go through theirs. Chop their tomato small, leave the raw onion off, and serve it with soft strips of flatbread rather than torn pieces.
How the toddler notes workChef’s notes
Tinned brown lentils or borlotti beans crush the same way if fava beans are hard to find.
Use ready-ground cumin and toast it in the oil for 10 seconds instead of step 1.
Warm flatbread for scooping, and add sliced cucumber and radish alongside.
The beans keep 3 days and thicken; loosen with water and a squeeze of lemon over low heat.