LEBANESE FOULE RECIPE

Captured by The Recipe Hunters in Lebanon

Foule (pronounced like full with a rounded mouth) will certainly make you full (sorry we had to use the age-old joke). Foule or Fava beans are found throughout the Middle East. They are a peasant’s food; providing a high nutritional value for low cost. Although foule is directly translated to fava beans, the Lebanese dish consists of Fava beans, chickpeas, garlic, lemon, olive oil, and salt. You eat foule for breakfast using pieces of pita bread, onion, or scallions to scoop up the delicious bean mix. You garnish each and every bite with items of your choice such as tomatoes, radishes, onions, parsley, and/or mint. It is really fun to eat because each bite can be a completely different flavor based upon what you mix with it. This is a great dish during the cold months because all the boiling warms up your house. We learned it from the wonderful Amal, who graciously invited us into her home in Ketermaya, Lebanon to record her family recipes!

Serves: 5-7 people

*Night Before: Soak the chickpeas and fava beans in water for 12 hours and then boil them for 2 hours (until mushy).

Prep time: 35 min. (after boiling the beans)

Foule Ingredients

Bean Dip:

2.5 cups (500 g) Dried Fava Beans
2.5 cups (500 g) Dried Chickpeas
Juice from ~ 3 lemons (depending on taste)
salt to taste
1 bulb of garlic

Garnishes:

4 Medium Tomatoes, diced
8 Small Radishes, cleaned
4 Medium Onions, cut into 4ths
1 bunch Parsley, diced
1 bunch Mint, cleaned

Love Tips & Tricks:

With foule, the ratio of chickpeas to fava beans is certainly up to your taste and preference. However, in true Lebanese fashion, as taught to us by Amal, we recommend that you use a ratio of 1:1 with chickpeas to fava beans.
The trick to foule is to cook the beans separately and to cook them until they are very soft so that they are easy to mash down.
You must make sure to have enough water when you boil the bean because you don’t want your beans to dry out. You might have to replenish the beans with water as they boil to the right consistency.
Remember not to discard the bean broth once the beans are done boiling because the broth will be added to the beans to liquify the consistency and add flavor to the taste of the final dish.

Lebanese Foule Recipe

Serves 5-7

1. Washing and Soaking the Beans

Rinse both the fava beans and the chickpeas with water and place them in separate bowls with double the amount of cold water as cups of beans to soak overnight (at least 12 hours).

washing the fava beans, foule recipe, lebanese recipes, lebanon

washing the chickpeas, foule recipe, lebanese recipes, lebanon

2. Cook the beans until they are soft

In the morning, strain the water from the soaked beans and add the fava beans and chickpeas to separate pots. Add in enough water so that the water is two inches above the beans. Bring to a boil over high heat. Remove the scum (foam) from the surface of the beans as soon as it develops. Keep the beans cooking at a high temperature until they become mushy. To ensure that the beans are covered with water at all times, you might need to add more water. Once cooked, set the beans aside and keep them in the bean broth until you are ready to combine ingredients.

Love Tip: You can also combine steps 1 & 2 by using 2 crockpots and cooking the beans separately overnight. Just make sure to add ample water in the crock pot

cooked fava beans, foule recipe, lebanese recipes, lebanon

boiled fava beans, foule recipe, lebanese recipes, lebanon

cooked chickpeas, foule recipe, lebanese recipes, lebanon

3. Mash the Garlic with Salt & Juice the Lemons

Clean a bulb of garlic into individual cloves and add them to a mortar (or food processor) with 1 Tbsp of salt and crush them up with the pestle into a chunky paste. Juice the lemons in a cup. Set the lemon and crush garlic aside.

garlic and salt, foule recipe, lebanese recipes, lebanon

crushed garlic and salt, foule recipe, lebanese recipes, lebanon

squeezing the lemons, foule recipe, lebanese recipes, lebanon

5. Combining the Ingredients

Combine the fava beans, chickpeas, some of the lemon juice and garlic to a large bowl and mash them together with the pestle. Add the bean broth to the mixture to loosen the consistency of the dish. Salt to taste.

Love Tip: Do not put all of the lemon or garlic paste in the mixture to begin with, instead, add it bit by bit according to your taste.