Bessara
Egypt's winter fava dip: dried fava beans simmered soft, blended with garlic and cumin, swirled with green oil. Served with hot baladi bread.
Overview
Dried split fava beans (foul mudammas) soak overnight with bicarbonate of soda. Simmer with garlic, bay, coriander seeds and water for 1 hour until completely soft. Blitzed (or mashed) with garlic, ground cumin, ground coriander, salt and lemon juice into a thick spoonable purée, looser than hummus but thicker than soup. Plated in a wide shallow bowl: a swirl in the centre, doused with the green oil (olive oil + paprika + cumin + chopped parsley), maybe a sprinkle of dukkah on top, served warm with hot baladi bread.
Ingredients
Beans
- 250 g dried split fava beans (the yellow split bean - sold at Egyptian / Middle Eastern shops)
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (for the soak)
- 1 ½ litres water (for the soak)
Simmering
- 1 litre water (fresh, for cooking)
- 6 garlic cloves (whole, peeled)
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon salt
Blender
- 4 garlic cloves (extra - peeled)
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon Aleppo pepper
- 1 lemon (juice)
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt (to taste)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
Green oil for finishing
- 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 small bunch fresh parsley (finely chopped, about 20 g)
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- A pinch of dried mint
To serve
- Hot baladi bread, pita (or any flatbread)
- Sliced raw onion (optional, traditional)
- Lemon wedges
- A small bowl of dukkah (optional)
Method
Stage 1 - Soak
- Place fava beans in a deep bowl with 1 ½ litres of cold water and the bicarbonate of soda.
- Soak 12 hours.
- Drain; rinse thoroughly.
Stage 2 - Cook
- Place drained beans in a deep pot with 1 litre fresh water, garlic cloves, bay leaf, coriander seeds and 1 teaspoon salt.
- Bring to a boil; skim foam.
- Reduce to low simmer; partial lid.
- Cook 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes until the beans are completely soft (crushable easily between fingers) and most of the water has been absorbed. Add water during cooking if it goes too dry.
Stage 3 - Blitz
- Discard the bay leaf and coriander seeds (or sieve them out).
- Tip the beans, their cooking liquid, and the extra 4 garlic cloves into a food processor.
- Add cumin, coriander, Aleppo pepper, lemon juice and 3 tablespoons olive oil.
- Blitz until smooth.
- Taste; adjust salt and lemon.
- The texture should be like a thick hummus - spoonable but not stiff. Loosen with hot water if needed.
Stage 4 - Green oil
- In a small bowl, whisk extra-virgin olive oil with chopped parsley, paprika, cumin and dried mint.
Stage 5 - Plate
- Warm the bessara gently in a small saucepan (or microwave 1 minute).
- Spread onto a wide shallow plate.
- Make a shallow well in the centre with the back of a spoon.
- Drizzle the green oil generously over.
- Scatter dukkah if using.
Stage 6 - Serve
- Eat warm, scooping with torn hot baladi bread.
- Offer sliced raw onion and lemon wedges on the side.
Notes
- Soak with bicarb: Without baking soda in the soak, the bean skins stay tough and the puree never becomes silky.
- Cook them very soft: Underdone beans give grainy, harsh bessara. The beans should mash easily under finger pressure; if they don't, simmer longer.
- Side or dip: Bessara works as a side at a mezze table OR as the centre of a bread-and-dip lunch. Either way, eat warm - cold bessara dulls dramatically.
Storage
- Refrigerate 4 days; warm with a splash of water (it thickens unappealingly cold).
- Freezes 3 months.
- The green oil is excellent on anything else - roast vegetables, fried eggs, grilled fish.
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