Houmous with ful medames, preserved lemon & tomato salsa
- Published: 3 Oct 24
- Updated: 24 Oct 24
“Ful medames is a creamy Egyptian fava bean stew, spiced with cumin and thickened with tahini. Paired with houmous, as it is across the region, this makes the heartiest meal,” says chef Helen Graham. “I like to dress them with a zippy salsa, then scoop it all up with fresh pitta.”
Helen takes inspiration from the food of the Middle East, Eastern Europe and North Africa. After working at London restaurants such as The Palomar and working with Yotam Ottolenghi, she rose to fame as chef of Middle Eastern vegetarian restaurant Bubala. Follow Helen on Instagram.
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- Serves 4-6
- Hands-on time 20 min
Before you start
If you can’t find tinned fava beans, soak dried ones overnight, then simmer in boiling water for 45 minutes. You’ll need about 120g dried beans for this recipe, plus 150ml of their cooking liquid. Or use another available canned bean such as butter beans.
Ingredients
- 400g tin fava beans (see Before You Start)
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 3 tbsp tahini
- 1½ tsp sea salt flakes
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- Juice 1 lemon
- 1 batch ultimate instant houmous to serve
- Pitta breads to serve (optional)
For the salsa
- ½ onion, finely chopped
- 2 vine tomatoes, halved, seeds removed and finely chopped
- 4 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to serve
- Juice 1 lemon
- 1 preserved lemon, finely chopped
- 20g basil, finely sliced
- 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
- 1 pickled chilli, finely chopped
- ½ tsp sea salt flakes
Method
- Add the fava beans and their liquid to a pan, along with the garlic, cumin, tahini, salt and smoked paprika. Tip in 200ml water, then set over a medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally and mashing some of the beans with the spoon to thicken the sauce. Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice.
- Meanwhile, mix all the salsa ingredients in a small bowl.
- Divide the houmous among bowls and spoon over the ful medames. Top with the salsa and drizzle with a little more olive oil (or serve it all in separate bowls if you like). Serve with pitta.
- Recipe from October 2024 Issue
Nutrition
- Calories
- 603kcals
- Fat
- 45g (6.3g saturated)
- Protein
- 21g
- Carbohydrates
- 24g (4.3g sugars)
- Fibre
- 8g
- Salt
- 4g
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