Neil from I am no Food Critic… but mixes up Ethiopian and Egyptian and creates a bean dish for a hearty mid-week dinner:
Ful medames is a common dish that originated in Egypt. It has a basic list of staple ingredients with mashed fava beans at it’s base combined with fresh aromatics and olive oil. Surprisingly ful is very much enjoyed as a breakfast dish in parts of the Arab world. We ordered it at a recent visit to an Ethiopian restaurant in Footscray and were thrown aback by its flavour and taste.
With a big batch of berbere powder still remaining from my last foray in Ethiopian Doro Wats, I was very inspired to make my own ful dish. What resulted was a fine example of how the simplest things can be so good.
This is hardly a recipe – if anything it is simply a quick fix for a boring can of beans from the pantry – in no time it is transformed into pure deliciousness.
This is a vegan recipe that can be made gluten-free with 100% teff injera bread or rice.
Ingredients
2 tbsp Olive Oil
400g can x Cannellini Beans (Fava Beans if you want to be authentic!)
1 x small Onion, diced finely
2 cloves x Garlic, crushed
1 tsp x Sweet Paprika
2 tbsp x Berbere powder
1/2 cup x Stock
1/2 cup x water
Salt, to taste
Chili, to garnish
Injera bread or Lebanese flatbread to serve
Directions
Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the paprika, stir for a minute on low heat add the onions and saute gently for 5 minutes then add the garlic and stir through
Add the berbere powder and stir to combine all ingredients
Rinse and drain the beans and add to the spice mix with the stock
Bring to a boil then lower heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes
Add a little water at a time to maintain the sauce consistency
After the 10 minutes mash beans gently, folding through the sauce
Season well with salt, tasting to adjust accordingly
Cook for a further 2 minutes
Garnish with chopped chilli
Serve with injera, to be authentic, as part of an Ethiopian meal
Neil is an adventurous eater and a passionate cook, whipping up feasts for his wife and three growing boys and very often for friends and colleagues too. When he’s not in the kitchen you’ll find him woodworking, taking photos or tearing up the dance floor.
