Ful wa Hummus

The Egyptian breakfast that has fed the Nile Valley for five thousand years: whole cooked chickpeas and fava beans dressed with cumin, lemon, olive oil and garlic, served warm in a bowl with flatbread, the morning meal of the pyramid builders and modern Cairo alike

Origin: Cairo, Egypt

From the journey of Chickpea.

Ful wa hummus, fava beans (ful) and chickpeas (hummus) eaten together, is one of the oldest continuous food pairings in human history. Both legumes are documented in Egyptian archaeological sites from the fourth millennium BCE; both appear in New Kingdom tomb provisions; both are still eaten as breakfast across Egypt today in the same basic preparation: whole or roughly mashed, dressed with cumin, lemon, olive oil, and garlic, served warm in a bowl with aish baladi (Egyptian flatbread). The Egyptian approach to chickpeas is distinct from the Levantine: where the Levant grinds its chickpeas into hummus bi tahini, Egypt tends toward whole cooked chickpeas dressed simply: a preparation that emphasises the nutty, earthy flavour of the legume itself rather than the emulsified silkiness of the blended preparation. In Cairo, this breakfast is sold from enormous copper cooking vessels (the qidra) by street vendors who keep the beans simmering overnight and ladle portions into shallow dishes from early morning. The combination is deeply nutritious, deeply cheap, deeply Egyptian: the fuel of a civilisation across fifty centuries of unbroken practice.

Ingredients

Legumes

200 g dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
200 g dried fava beans (split and skinned), soaked overnight

Dressing

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, crushed to a paste with a pinch of salt

Spice

1.5 tsp cumin, ground

Seasoning

1 tsp flaked sea salt
0.5 tsp black pepper

Garnish

1 tsp sweet paprika or chilli flakes, for serving
2 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1 tomato, finely diced (optional)

Method

Drain and rinse the soaked chickpeas and fava beans separately. Cook them separately: chickpeas in a pot of unsalted water for 60–90 minutes until completely tender; fava beans in another pot for 45–60 minutes until soft. Split fava beans dissolve partially into a thick purée: this is correct.
When both are cooked, combine them in a single pan with a little of their cooking water. Use a large spoon to gently crush some of the chickpeas against the side of the pan: you want a rough texture with some whole chickpeas, some broken, and some fava bean purée binding everything together.
Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, crushed garlic, and cumin. Pour over the warm legumes and stir through. Season with salt and pepper. The dressing should be absorbed partly by the legumes and partly remain as a glistening coating.
Transfer to a wide, shallow serving bowl. Drizzle a generous additional pour of olive oil over the top. Scatter paprika or chilli flakes, fresh parsley, and diced tomato if using.
Serve immediately with warm aish baladi or pita. The dish is eaten for breakfast but works at any meal.

Notes

Split, skinned fava beans (ful nabbed) are much faster to cook than whole dried favas and dissolve more easily into the textured background of this dish. They are available at Egyptian, Middle Eastern, and health food stores. If using whole dried fava beans, increase the soaking and cooking time significantly. The key ratio for this dish is roughly equal volumes of chickpeas and fava beans; adjust to taste. In Egypt, dried fenugreek seed (hilba) is sometimes added to the cooking water for the fava beans as a digestive aid and flavour note: this is optional but traditional.

The Gastrographer

Name: Ful wa Hummus
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 2 h
Total time: 2 h 10 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Egypt
Ingredients: 200 g dried chickpeas, soaked overnight; 200 g dried fava beans (split and skinned), soaked overnight; 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil; 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice; 2 cloves garlic, crushed to a paste with a pinch of salt; 1.5 tsp cumin, ground; 1 tsp flaked sea salt; 0.5 tsp black pepper; 1 tsp sweet paprika or chilli flakes, for serving; 2 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped; 1 tomato, finely diced (optional)

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control