Sudanese-style Fava Beans

Recipe contributed by: Dhara Balwa

Sudanese Fava beans is served with fresh bread, the dish known to the locals as Fulaish (Ful - Dry Fava beans, Aish - Bread). It is a common Fatur (Breakfast) meal for them. I lived in an apartment in Khartoum, Sudan that had few stores next to it. The shopkeepers(especially those owning grocery stores) would have a common pot of beans cooking since early morning and just around 11 am, someone will cut the salad vegetables, fill a huge bowl of Ful, top it with sesame oil, Sudanese Jibna (flavors similar to Feta cheese) and salad and mix it all together. The men of all the shops around would get together and eat from the common bowl accompanied with bread. I found similar tradition in other nearby clusters of shops too.

My husband and me usually used to eat it for dinner. There have been times when I cooked dinner and because of the craving, we ended up eating Ful sandwich with dinner to be consumed the next day. Because it was available so easily everywhere in Khartoum, the need to cook it at home didn't arise. But when we came here in US, we couldn't find a restaurant that served Ful the Sudanese style. Searching the aisles and different varieties of main ingredients, we finally settled with the Egyptian Fava beans (It is national dish of Egypt) and Trader Joe's Feta cheese.

High in protein content and bundled with so many vitamins and minerals, try this dry Fava beans recipe.

Photo by Dhara Balwa

Serves: 4
Prep time: 5 min plus 14 hrs soak time for Fava beans; Cook time: ~ 3 hours
Difficulty level: Easy

Ingredients:

2 cups dry Egyptian Fava Beans
2 pinches Baking Soda
9 large cloves Garlic, minced
2 tsp. Red Chili Powder
1 1/2 tsp. Cumin Powder
3 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 large Lime
8 oz Feta Cheese
Salt to taste
Oil to drizzle on top while serving
Water as needed

Method:

1)Wash and soak the fava beans adding the baking soda a day before cooking the beans. You can alternately use canned fava beans.

2) Wash the beans properly before cooking. In a pressure cooker, add the beans and adding water such that the level of water is 1-2 inch higher than the level of beans. Cover the lid and cook on a low-medium heat for 1 1/2 hours.

3) Take it off the heat and let the cooker cool. Once cool, open the lid and add minced garlic, chili powder, cumin powder and olive oil to it and mix well.

4) Again, cover the lid and cook on medium-low heat for another 30-35 min till garlic and the spices are cooked.

5) Remove from heat, let the cooker cool. Once cool, open the lid and add salt and lime.

6) Serve the beans topped with Feta cheese, oil.

Serve with Pita/Flat bread, Hummus and salad made with small cubes of tomatoes, cucumbers and onions.