Ful Mudammas (فول مدمّس)

Ful Mudammas

Ful Mudammas is a very popular dish throughout the Middle East, and can be made in a variety of different ways depending on which region you are in. The first time I tried this I really disliked it - then again, it was an imported 'ready to eat' canned version of the stuff that I tried. Since all my Middle Eastern friends stood by their claims that it was a staple dish that rich and poor alike both ate, I decided to give it another try making it myself - the results were quite different!

I won't claim this recipe is from any specific region, because it is not. I searched a wide variety of recipes, all of which differed in some way or another. When the time came to try our this dish again I didn't bother with a recipe at all. I went with what I remembered from the various recipes I had found. Since I also had no sort of Arabic bread available, with which ful is usually served, I decided to be a typical Brit and make toast instead!

Ingredients

Serves: 2

Ingredients
1 can/tin of brown broad beans
1/2 a bell pepper (any colour is fine), diced
1/2 a medium onion, diced
1/2 a tomato, chopped
1/2 a tsp of ground cumin
1 tsp of crushed garlic
1 tbsp of tomato puree*
1 cup of water
juice of 2 lemons (or to taste)
salt and black pepper, to taste

*In Britain, tomato puree, usually refers to what is known in America as concentrated tomato paste

Fry the onion until translucent

Add bell pepper and fry for a further 3 min

Add tomato and fry until soft

Add ground cumin and crushed garlic, fry for a futher 30s

Add 1 cup of cold water, tomato puree* and the broad beans.
Bring to the boil then reduce heat to low and cover with a lid.

Simmer on low heat for about 10min or until liquid has reduced by half , it should look as above

Mash the beans with a potato masher or the back of a spoon, for a chunky consistency
You could serve it  like this, or if you want a smoother texture give it a further whizz with an electric hand blender or in the food processor.

Once you have your desired consistency/texture, mix in the lemon juice, salt and pepper to your preferred taste
This above photo shows the consistency/texture after using a hand blender
Serve with Arabic Flat bread, or any other type of bread ;)

Posted in: Beans, Bell Peppers, Breakfast, Broad Beans, Middle Eastern, Onion, Tomato, Vegetarian