Smooth fava bean dip, an Egyptian dip made with dried fava beans, cumin, and garlic.
An incredibly delicious Egyptian dip: fava bean dip with cumin, lemon juice, and lots of spices. And if you are into bean dips just as much as I am, you could also try this Low-Calorie Hummus, the Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, the Turmeric Hummus, or the Romanian Bean Dip, they are all a delight.
What do you need to make this dip?
Fava beans:
- Also known as faba beans or broad beans.
- Unlike other beans, you will have to remove their exterior before being able to eat them. I think this is the main reason why they are not as popular as other beans, as peeling them is really time-consuming.
- I made this Egyptian dip with dried fava beans which were still in their skin. For a speedier version, you can use dried and split beans or canned ones.
Other ingredients:
- Baking soda for cooking the beans, it will help them soften.
- Onion, garlic, cumin seeds, and fresh lemon juice.
How to cook dried fava beans
There are two types of dried fava beans: the large ones and the small ones. Below are the instructions for cooking large ones.
- Place them into a very large bowl. Cover with plenty of water, stir in 1 tablespoon baking soda and leave to soak overnight. Make sure there is enough water in the bowl, they will swell a lot.
- Drain and peel. Peeling 1 kg/ 2.2 lbs of them took me about one and a half hours, so make sure you have that time. You will not need so many to make the dip, I chose to cook the whole bag to save time and energy. I froze the rest and used them to make the dip again.
- Peeling the beans is time consuming but it's very easy, you will have no difficulties in removing the skin.
- When peeling the beans I discovered that a few of them had little holes inside and things in the holes that looked like dried and rehydrated tiny worms. 🙁 I discarded those beans.
- Cook the fava beans in plenty of water. Cover them with water, bring to a boil and simmer for up to 40-45 minutes. Make sure you already check after 25-30 minutes, you want them to be tender and properly cooked, but they should not get mushy. Keep checking every 5 minutes or so.
- Drain well, let cool a little and proceed with the recipe.
- If you cooked a whole bag of the beans, you can freeze the cooked beans and use them later on.
How to serve fava bean dip?
Serve as a dip for vegetables, as a spread on bread or crispbread, as a filling for pita bread or flatbread with other toppings like waxy cooked eggs, feta cheese, and red onions, cooked chicken Shawarma style, baked vegetables, falafel or other vegetarian patties or balls.
How to store?
The fava bean dip keeps well in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about 4-5 days.
More Middle Eastern recipes:
Vegan Bulgur Salad with Chickpeas
Pulled Lamb with Pomegranate Mint Yogurt
Fava Bean Dip
Smooth fava bean dip, an Egyptian dip made with dried fava beans, cumin, and garlic.
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Servings: 6 -8
Calories: 112kcal
Ingredients
- 7 oz dried fava beans 200 g, Note
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 1 medium onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- ½ teaspoon whole cumin seeds
- ½ cup water or cooking water from the beans 4 fl.oz/ 125 ml
- 5 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice about 1 large lemon, more to taste
- 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil divided
- fine sea salt and pepper
Instructions
- Soak beans: Place the washed beans into a large bowl. Cover with plenty of water, they will swell a lot. Add the baking powder, stir and soak overnight.
- Peel fava beans: Drain and peel the beans, discard the peel and any beans that have wormholes in them.
- Cook beans: Place the peeled beans into a large pot and cover them with plenty of water. Bring to a boil, turn the heat down and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes. Start checking after 30 minutes already, the fava beans should be tender but not mushy. If they are not done yet, keep checking every 5 minutes.
- Reserve some cooking water: Drain the beans and reserve some cooking water. If you use already cooked beans, you can use plain water for the dip.
- Saute: Chop the onion very finely. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and cook the onion for about 3-5 minutes until soft. Stir often. Add the grated garlic cloves and the cumin seeds and cook, stirring constantly, for another minute.
- Combine: Place the cooked fava beans into a food processor. Add the onion mixture, about ¾ of the reserved cooking water, lemon juice, olive oil, and some salt and pepper.
- Process until very smooth, stopping the food processor a few times in between and scraping its walls properly. Adjust the consistency with some of the remaining water, if necessary. Add more salt, pepper, and lemon juice to taste.
Notes
You will have about about 2 ½ cups/ 450 g/ 1 lb cooked fava beans
Nutrition
Serving: 1/8 of the dip | Calories: 112kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Sodium: 683mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g
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angiesrecipes says
You will have to take that away from me, or I would finish the whole bowl at one go!
Sissi says
It's a fantastic change from the chickpea hummous! (By the way, I've just made some hummous today.....funny coincidence).
Liz says
Delicious.....and here in Italy I can buy the dried Fava beans already peeled.
Adina says
Oh, you are lucky, it takes ages to do it.
Martin Reynolds says
I had this in Italy and to remove the skin of the beads they had a gadget that grinds the beans, like a circular cheese grater that leaves the skin above the grater and the ground up beans below. It called a passaverdura IPAC. IPAC is the make I think
Adina says
Sounds good, removing those skin is the only thing keeping me from making this dip more often.
Catherine says
Any tips on how you might adapt this with fresh beans?
Adina says
Sorry, Catherine, I've never used them. I think this recipe is supposed to be made with dried beans, they have a different consistency than fresh ones when cooked.