Ful Nabed or Bissara
- 2 onions, chopped
- 4 tablespoons plus 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 1/4 cup (skinless) white fava beans, soaked overnight
- 4 to 6 cloves garlic
- Salt
- Juice of 1 1/2 lemons
- 1 teaspoon superfine sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika or a pinch of ground chili pepper (optional)
- 4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill or flat-leaf parsley
- Fry the onions in 4 tablespoons olive oil until golden brown.
- Simmer the drained beans in fresh water to cover together with the garlic for 1 1/2 hours, or until they are very soft, adding salt towards the end.
- Drain, keeping the cooking water, then turn to a puree in a food processor, adding the juice of 1 lemon and sugar and enough of the cooking water to have a soft cream.
- Fold in the fried onions and serve, spread on a large plate.
- Sprinkle with 3 tablespoons olive oil, cumin, paprika or chili pepper, and dill or parsley.
- Accompany with Arab or pita bread and pass round the spices and the bottle of olive oil for people to help themselves to more.
- For a Turkish version called fava, add 2 large onions, cut in pieces, to the pan with the beans.
- When cooked, drain and puree the beans with the onions.
- Mix with 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, salt, 2 teaspoons sugar, and the juice of 1 lemon.
- Then pour into a moistened mold and chill for 8 hours.
- It will become very firm.
- Turn out and serve sprinkled with olive oil, chopped dill, and 1 red onion cut into thin slices.
- A Tunisian version has 1 1/2 teaspoons tomato paste and 1 1/2 teaspoons harissa (page 464).
onions, extravirgin olive oil, white fava beans, garlic, salt, lemons, sugar, ground cumin, paprika, fresh dill
Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/ful-nabed-or-bissara-373180 (may not work)