Spicy Ful Medames with Olive Oil and Chile

4.70 (3)
⏱ 10 mins 🍽 Serves 4 🌶 middle eastern 🏷 Side dish

This ful medames recipe offers a bold take on the classic Levantine fava bean stew. It combines toasted cumin, garlic, and chile flakes for a spicy, aromatic base, enriched with tahini and plenty of extra virgin olive oil. The beans are simmered briefly to create a thick, saucy consistency, then finished with fresh lemon juice. You can serve it as a chunky stew or mash it into a luxurious dip, drizzled with more oil at the table. It's a versatile dish ready in just 10 minutes.

Spicy Ful Medames with Olive Oil and Chile

Ingredients

  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds, freshly toasted
  • 2 teaspoons chile flakes
  • Kosher salt
  • 2 (15-ounce) cans fava beans
  • 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
  • 1 tablespoon tahini
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons lemon juice from 2 lemons, or more to taste

Method

  1. Place the garlic cloves, cumin seeds, chile flakes, and a pinch of salt into a mortar. Crush them together until the seeds are broken and the garlic is in small pieces. If a mortar is unavailable, finely mince the garlic instead.
  2. Transfer the contents of one can of fava beans, including its liquid, to a medium saucepan. Drain the second can and add those beans too. Stir in the garlic paste, 3/4 cup olive oil, and the tahini. Heat the mixture, stirring often, until the liquid thickens into a sauce but remains a little brothy, which should take about 5 minutes.
  3. Mix in the lemon juice and season with salt according to your preference. For a thicker stew, mash roughly one third of the beans with a potato masher. To make a smooth dip, mash all of the beans. Offer extra olive oil for drizzling when serving.

Nutrition (per serving)

Sodium571000 mg

Recipe details

CategorySide dish
Cuisinemiddle eastern
AuthorMax Falkowitz