First off, I need to get something off my chest. My name is Lucie Stoker and I am a Houmous addict! So you can imagine my delight at finding something that could possibly wean me off my houmous obsession, it's a dip with a similar texture and the same wonderfully savoury quality and yet it is completely different.
I was flicking through my new copy of Veggistan the other day (highly recommend it by the way, such an amazing collection of vegetarian recipes from the Middle East) and I came across a recipe that I could have quite easily glided over... broad bean mash. Just sounds a bit drab really, it's proper name of Besara sounds far more tempting. Apart from the rather exotic sounding green cumin seeds I had everything in stock which also made it an immediate winner. This is a perfect stock cupboard option since it makes use of dried fava beans.
Before I get on to the recipe, a quick note about soaking... To soak or not to soak, that is many a cooks question. The recipe in the book suggests soaking the fava beans over night, I use Hodmedods Split Dried Fava Beans for the precise reason that I don't have to. A half an hour soak followed by the thorough boiling does the job just fine but different ones may well vary, make sure to check the packet.
Besara
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp smoked paprika
200g dried fava beans (split dried fava beans really speeds up the process)
600ml of water
juice of a lemon
drizzle of extra olive oil
1. Heat the olive oil in a pan, and lightly fry off the onion followed by the cumin seeds and smoked paprika.
2. Pour over the water, cover and bring to a simmer.
3. It will take about 30 minutes for the fava beans to soften but it could be a bit longer, keep an eye on the water, if it goes completely dry then add a little more.
4. Once the fava beans are soft and the water is mostly soaked up, beat the mixture with a wooden spoon to mash the beans. Season with salt and pepper and squeeze in the lemon juice.
5. Serve in a bowl with a generous drizzle of peppery extra virgin olive oil.
I was flicking through my new copy of Veggistan the other day (highly recommend it by the way, such an amazing collection of vegetarian recipes from the Middle East) and I came across a recipe that I could have quite easily glided over... broad bean mash. Just sounds a bit drab really, it's proper name of Besara sounds far more tempting. Apart from the rather exotic sounding green cumin seeds I had everything in stock which also made it an immediate winner. This is a perfect stock cupboard option since it makes use of dried fava beans.
Besara
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp smoked paprika
200g dried fava beans (split dried fava beans really speeds up the process)
600ml of water
juice of a lemon
drizzle of extra olive oil
1. Heat the olive oil in a pan, and lightly fry off the onion followed by the cumin seeds and smoked paprika.
2. Pour over the water, cover and bring to a simmer.
3. It will take about 30 minutes for the fava beans to soften but it could be a bit longer, keep an eye on the water, if it goes completely dry then add a little more.
4. Once the fava beans are soft and the water is mostly soaked up, beat the mixture with a wooden spoon to mash the beans. Season with salt and pepper and squeeze in the lemon juice.
5. Serve in a bowl with a generous drizzle of peppery extra virgin olive oil.
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