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Dried Fava Beans


Kerry Beal

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Stopped by my local mediterranean market yesterday to get the fixings for Falafel so I could join Chris's Felafel/Falafel cook-off.

I had a nice big bag of dried skin on fava beans in my hand, and when the proprietor asked me what I was making, he directed me to the skin off fava beans. Well these skin on beans just looked so beautiful that I decided to buy them anyway. The fellow said he just normally soaks and cooks them and dusts them with some cumin.

I think I need just a little more direction and maybe a few other ideas of what I can do with these gorgeous beans. I'd be interested in both simple preparations and more complex ones.

How about it guys, what do you do with big fat healthy dried fava beans?

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I think that you still need to skin them. I've been told, at various times, that the skin can be either toxic, or that many people are allergic. Either way, the skins don't taste good and IMHO need to come off.

I just skinned a whole bunch, and its a pain in the neck whether they are fresh or dried!! :hmmm::huh:

I like to cook them in salted water until they fall apart....then puree them while incorporating some good olive oil. Finish with sea salt. mmmmmm.......

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I've used the skin-on beans in falafel and the only really negative side effect that I noticed was the fact that I had a lot of chunks of bean skin stuck in my teeth when I was done eating. Nothing so bad as corn on the cob, but a good flossing was required.

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I think that you still need to skin them. I've been told, at various times,  that the skin can be either toxic, or that many people are allergic.  Either way, the skins don't taste good and IMHO need to come off.

I just skinned a whole bunch, and its a pain in the neck whether they are fresh or dried!!  :hmmm:  :huh:

I like to cook them in salted water until they fall apart....then puree them while incorporating some good olive oil.  Finish with sea salt.  mmmmmm.......

I know there is a concern with people with G6PD deficiency - if they eat fava beans (or take sulfa drugs) their red blood cells become unstable and break down, causing severe illness.

I was back at the same store today to pick up some tahina and spoke with the owners wife who says that I should soak the beans overnight with some bicarbonate of soda, then boil them and eat them with cumin and lemon juice. She didn't say to peel them. I guess I'm going to have to experiment and see just how tough the skins end up.

I like to stuff a lamb breast with them. The flavor is just beyond delicious.

Rebecca,

This sounds very intriguing. Are there other ingredients involved?

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Talking abt bean reminds me of fregola and white Navy Beans I cames across

in several mediterranean cooks books, any ideas how to go about preparing them?

主泡一杯邀西方. 馥郁幽香而湧.三焦回转沁心房

"Inhale the aroma before tasting and drinking, savour the goodness from the heart "

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The larger Fava beans are preferred for this Lebanese mazza dish.

Soak overnight, and boil til tender but not mushy. Drain, place on a shallow dish in thin layer. Squeeze lemon juice and sprinkle with salt and lots of Cumin.

These are often served warm or at room temperature with drinks. Use your fingers to bring them to your mouth, bite the tip off, pinch the bean into mouth and discard the skin.

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The larger Fava beans are preferred for this Lebanese mazza dish.

Soak overnight, and boil til tender but not mushy. Drain, place on a shallow dish in thin layer. Squeeze lemon juice and sprinkle with salt and lots of Cumin.

These are often served warm or at room temperature with drinks. Use your fingers to bring them to your mouth, bite the tip off, pinch the bean into mouth and discard the skin.

Ah, this explains the motion that the woman in the meditarranean store was showing me. She sort of mimed bringing them to her mouth one at a time with some sort of strange wrist action.

A little like eating edemame.

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Ok so I soaked about 1/8 of the package overnight with a bit of bicarb. They plumped up enormously. I put them in my pasta pot and cooked until they were soft but not mushy.

I think the reason for the thin layer is to sucessfully dress each bean with cumin, salt and lemon juice.

They were very tasty little nibbles, next time I'll add even more cumin. The cumin is the perfect addition.

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One of my favourite lunchtime treats was a dish called foul mudammas/madammas. I've had it served cold, but I prefer it served hot. The little stand I used to get it from served it with garnishes of chopped onion, jalapeno, and I can't remember what else, served with a nice roll.

Served cold, I much prefer it to hummus.

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One of my favourite lunchtime treats was a dish called foul mudammas/madammas.  I've had it served cold, but I prefer it served hot.  The little stand I used to get it from served it with garnishes of chopped onion, jalapeno, and I can't remember what else, served with a nice roll.

Served cold, I much prefer it to hummus.

This sounds wonderful too. I figure I could add the sort of things I usually add to Baba Ganoush. It would be nice with pita.

I'd better get peeling some of those beans.

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Hathor,

As Kerry explained above, you want a little bit of seasoning on each Fava bean. Tossing everything in a bowl wouldn't be the same.

Kerry,

I'm glad you enjoyed them.

I didn't mention Foul Mudammas because it's usually made with the smaller Fava beans since their skins are softer. They're used whole, skins and all.

Foul mudammas is mostly served for breakfast in Lebanon. The restaurants that serve it usually also serve Hummus B'Tahini as well.

Soak the beans overnight.

Next morning, change the water, add salt and boil. This time you want them to get relatively mushy. Drain and reserve some of the liquid.

In a bowl, sprinkle a clove of garlic with a little salt (to keep it from flying around) and mash it with a wooden pestle. Add about two cups of beans and mash them with the pestle, use the reserved liquid to correct the consistency. Add juice of half a lemon, 1/2 tsp dried mint, 1T fresh parsley and mix. Add salt to taste. Drizzle a generous amount of new olive oil on top, and enjoy with pita bread, olives, green onions, radishes, pickled turnips and the like.

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Hathor,

As Kerry explained above, you want a little bit of seasoning on each Fava bean. Tossing everything in a bowl wouldn't be the same.

Kerry,

I'm glad you enjoyed them.

I didn't mention Foul Mudammas because it's usually made with the smaller Fava beans since their skins are softer. They're used whole, skins and all.

Foul mudammas is mostly served for breakfast in Lebanon. The restaurants that serve it usually also serve Hummus B'Tahini as well.

Soak the beans overnight.

Next morning, change the water, add salt and boil. This time you want them to get relatively mushy. Drain and reserve some of the liquid.

In a bowl, sprinkle a clove of garlic with a little salt (to keep it from flying around) and mash it with a wooden pestle. Add about two cups of beans and mash them with the pestle, use the reserved liquid to correct the consistency. Add juice of half a lemon, 1/2 tsp dried mint, 1T fresh parsley and mix. Add salt to taste. Drizzle a generous amount of new olive oil on top, and enjoy with pita bread, olives, green onions, radishes, pickled turnips and the like.

This sounds like a winner. For now I'll try it with the peeled beans, next trip I'll get some of the smaller ones.

Thanks Chef C

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...

Foul mudammas is mostly served for breakfast in Lebanon. The restaurants that serve it usually also serve Hummus B'Tahini as well.

Soak the beans overnight.

Next morning, change the water, add salt and boil. This time you want them to get relatively mushy. Drain and reserve some of the liquid.

In a bowl, sprinkle a clove of garlic with a little salt (to keep it from flying around) and mash it with a wooden pestle. Add about two cups of beans and mash them with the pestle, use the reserved liquid to correct the consistency. Add juice of half a lemon, 1/2 tsp dried mint, 1T fresh parsley and mix. Add salt to taste. Drizzle a generous amount of new olive oil on top, and enjoy with pita bread, olives, green onions, radishes, pickled turnips and the like.

Here's some more discussion of this dish on an older thread: click

I've never cooked with dried fava beans but I'm inspired by this thread. The Foul Mudammas sounds like an interesting savory breakfast option.

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

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My favorite recipe for Dried Fava Beans is right from the Goya package. Basically you rinse and pick the beans. Use about half a pound. Then cover with water, boil and let sit for an hour. Take the husks (bean covers?) off. Saute a chopped up onion in extra virgin olive oil. Add beans, salt, broth, and rosemary. Maybe garlic too, I don't remember. Cook until the beans soak up the broth. If you want the complete recipe check the Goya package. I LOVE this dish, unfortunately I am the only person in the house who does. :sad: Someday my kids will get adventerous. :biggrin:

Barb C.

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  • 11 months later...

So all my middle-eastern and italian cookbooks say look for skinless dried fava beans in an Indian market... I have a Indian SUPERmarket near me and can't find them there. The grocers/salespeople there are no help. My only lead is that they are called Chikkudu. Unless they look completely different than Fava beans do when they still have their shell on. Any help?

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I had the same experience: I made the felafel recipe on this site somewhere, which uses a combination of chickpeas and fava beans. I soaked and then peeled the favas by hand and vowed not to do that again. But couldn't find the split peeled ones anywhere . . . until I went to Istanbul last month. I actually brought back a half kilo. Sorry not to be of more help. They do look different from the ones in the peel, by the way. They're quite pale, and surprisingly small. But you will know them when you see them. I'll let you know if I track any down in this country.

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I had the same experience: I made the felafel recipe on this site somewhere, which uses a combination of chickpeas and fava beans. I soaked and then peeled the favas by hand and vowed not to do that again. But couldn't find the split peeled ones anywhere . . . until I went to Istanbul last month. I actually brought back a half kilo. Sorry not to be of more help. They do look different from the ones in the peel, by the way. They're quite pale, and surprisingly small. But you will know them when you see them. I'll let you know if I track any down in this country.

well I can buy them online but they're expensive... Kalustyan's has them and Bob's Red Mill packages them... but if I'm spending $6 a lb on them then they're not a good cheap meal, they're an expensive hassle.

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try here Linkey

or here linkey

that still seems a bit pricey though , a decent Supermarket will special order items as long as theyre from a company that they stock... and Goya is a pretty popular brand its worth asking, although youll probablly have to buy a 'case ' of said item... not necessarily a bad thing, Favas are actually pretty nice on their own , they remind me of really good Lima beans .

I feel your pain, I recently caughed up WAAAY the Hell too much at Kalyustans for a package of Fava beans in order to make some Authentic Falafel ( fabulous By the way.. hit the Egullet Falafel cook off thread ) .. Go with the peeled ones .. trust me . Although the 'Whole Bean' ( unpeeled ) variety seemed like it could have been planted successsfully after an overnight soak since they seemed to 'Sprout ' as well as anything Ive ever done for a salad .. Nasty looking plant from what I found, so they all went into the Cuisinart

Edit to add " Heres a much better link direct from Goya Goya E Store

Edited by KLwood (log)

" No, Starvin' Marvin ! Thats MY turkey pot pie "

- Cartman

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  • 2 years later...

I ordered a bag of dried favas from my local with them - foul mudammas sounds nice, but I don't have any dip or small-eats related events upcoming to make it for - or can it be served with rice and vegetables for a meal?

Alternately, I was wondering if anyone had tried to bake these after an overnight soaking and peeling?

I was thinking with some onion, canned tomatoes, olive oil - maybe some lemon, too?

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An Israeli deli near me serves foul mudammes as mashed fava beans on top of a bed of hummus, garnished with a dollop of what I think is schul, a Yemeni picante sauce, and parsley. Some lemon is added but there wasn't any cumin, I think. This was accompanied by two warm pitas. I didn't know what I was going to be getting - maybe it was only supposed to be a dip but I ate the whole thing. I thought a classic presentation was with hard boiled egg and tomato wedges.

I keep wanting to try it with mitmita, the Ethiopian bird's eye chile pepper powder, but I've made it at home several times and never remember.

I've got to go read that thread.

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There's a LOT of (English) spelling variation.

I thought Ful Mesdames was the common one ... anyway, its another useful search term.

Edited by dougal (log)

"If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch ... you must first invent the universe." - Carl Sagan

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