Fool mudammas bowl, pronounced “fool mudammas”, is a vegan dish popular recipes throughout time in the Middle East and the Levant, but in reality it is considered the healthy national traditional dish of arabic Egypt, is the daily food of the Egyptian people. A humble but tasty vegan meal made from fava beans and served for late breakfast, lunch or even dinner.
A popular Middle Eastern dish based on fava beans, has a similarity to this ancient method of cooking. Sometimes it spell fool mudammas and often known as simply “ful”, this dish is served throughout the Middle East. Full is known to make you feel full and satisfied due to its high fiber content. In Muslim countries, it is often consumed during Ramadan before sunrise, so that people can fast more easily during the day. Sometimes it is served on chickpea hummus in a dish called “ful hummus”.
What is fool mudammas?
Fool mudammas are basically cooked beans (or beans), usually seasoned with some ground cumin and finished with a good extra virgin olive oil. Egyptians serve with hot pita bread and give it a touch of flavor with lemon juice, fresh vegetables and herbs. There are many ways to dress this creamy and hearty fava bean porridge. I like my fool mudammas with a spicy kick, so I make a special lemon garlic sauce with hot peppers (although the lemon tames the peppers a little, so it's not really spicy but adds a big kick!)
Like many beans and legumes, fava beans are an excellent source of fiber and provide protein and iron.
And in terms of texture and taste, favas are one of the most tasty and fleshy bean varieties in the region: creamy texture, buttery and delicious hazelnut flavor.
Fresh beans, also known as beans, come in shiny bean pods and can be used in many salads and spring dishes. Unfortunately, fresh beans have a very short season, so you are more likely to find them dry or canned. To make this recipe for fool mudammas, I take a shortcut using canned fava beans.
Ingredients for this recipe
There are four simple components of this recipe for fool mudamma:
1. Fava beans (canned or dried?
For this recipe, you will need to use canned or ready-made fava beans. I use canned fava beans here for a shortcut (2 cans of fava beans or 3 cups). But, if you want to need it from scratch, you can start with 1 cup of dried fava beans. You will have to soak the beans all night. Drain thoroughly, then cook abundantly in water for about 1 hour until tender (see recipe notes.)
2. Seasoning and garlic sauce with lemon with peppers or chili
The flavors of this recipe are decidedly Mediterranean. We start with a pinch of fragrant ground cumin, which adds great depth and helps digestion.
But the bold flavors of this simple fava bean stew come from a hot sauce made with chopped garlic, peppers and fresh lemon juice.
Do not worry, this fool recipe for mudammas is not necessarily spicy. Lemon juice tames chilies pretty well, so the sauce actually adds enough kick without being overwhelming.
3. Extra virgin olive oil
May seem like a small component of this recipe, but you will need a generous drizzle of quality extra virgin olive oil. will add flavor and bring this velvety finish to cooked fava grains. I used Greek extra virgin olive oil early harvest
4. Fresh toppings
I love adding lots of fresh parsley and a few diced tomatoes on top. Some people like to add chopped onions, but I prefer to serve green onions to the side.
How to make fool mudammas: step by step
Starting with canned or ready-to-cook fava beans, there are three simple steps to make fava beans: heat the beans and crush them, add flavor, garnish with fresh vegetables
1. Heat, crush and season fava beans
Remember, you start with canned or already cooked fava beans. Drain the beans and place in a frying pan or saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat with about ½ cup of water. Season with a little kosher salt and ground cumin (cumin adds depth here, but also helps digestion). Remove from heat.
Using your potato grinder or on the back of a fork, crush the beans (you don't have to crush each bean, but do your best to crush them to make them pleasant and soft)
2. Add spicy lemon garlic sauce and extra virgin olive oil
Using a mortar and mortar, crush the garlic and green peppers. Add lemon juice and mix.
Tip: lemon juice tames chilies a little, so this sauce adds a good kick to fool mudammas but is not very spicy. Just the perfect balance.
Pour the hot sauce over the fava beans and stir. Add a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
3. Add fresh ingredients. Cover the fool mudammas with fresh parsley, diced tomatoes and a few slices of hot peppers, if desired. Serve with a hot pita bread companion
How to serve it?
You can call it disgusting for short! Fool mudammas are best served with hot pita bread. You can add sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, fresh green onions and olives to move on.
Fool mudammas are a meal alone, so you definitely do not need to add much more. But, you can turn it into a big Middle Eastern vegan feast by adding falafel and sides like tahini sauce (which you can easily spray on top), hummus or baba ganoush!
I love making pita sandwiches with fool mudammas and slices of grilled eggplant or cauliflower.
Ingredients of fool mudammas
2 cans of beans (13 to 15 ounces each box) (see notes if dried fava beans are used)
½ cup water
kosher salt
½ to 1 teaspoon or tbsp ground cumin spices
1-2 hot peppers tablespoons, chopped (jalapenos will work here)
2 cloves of garlic,
1 large lemon juice of extra virgin olive oil (early harvest)
1 cup parsley chopped
1 tomato, cut diced
to serve enjoy in mash form with: Hot bread - topped with hole sliced tomatoes - Sliced cucumbers - serves with Green onions – in addition to Olives
Notes:
In a cast iron skillet or saucepan, add the fava beans and ½ cup of water. Heat over medium-high heat. Season with kosher salt including cumin. Use a potato grinder or fork to grind the beans.
In a mortar and mortar, add hot peppers and garlic. Brougir. Add the juice of one lemon and mix.
Pour garlic and chili sauce over fava beans. Add a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Top with chopped parsley, diced tomatoes and a few slices of hot peppers, if desired. Serve with pita bread, sliced vegetables and olives.
To make Mudammas Foul from dried fava beans: Start with 1 cup dried fava beans. Soak in plenty of water overnight (beans will grow in size). Drain and discard the water to soak. If desired, peel the beans and discard the hard skin. Place the beans in a large saucepan or saucepan and add plenty of water (about 5 cups). Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then cover partially and simmer for about 1 hour. Drain and discard the water. Continue with the fool muddamas.
