Egyptian ful medames

In my cooking frenzy I came across this recipe, and it has become one of my favorites. You can cook a fair amount and freeze it in portions. It is excellent with pitta bread, or Iraqui bread if you can find it, with boiled eggs, fried eggs, tomato salad or fresh herbs. It is cheap and extremely tasty. I found the recipe on The Guardian. 1kg whole dried fava beans 1 garlic clove 1 red onion 45g fresh coriander 20g fresh parsley Juice of 2 or 3 large lemons 1 small hot chilli ¼ tsp cayenne ¼ tsp cinnamon 3 heaped tsp cumin 500-700ml jar passata 2 heaped tsp tomato puree 3 heaped tsp sugar (or more to taste) 100ml sunflower oil (plus oil for frying) Salt and black pepper 1 Soak the beans overnight. Drain, place in a pan, cover with plenty of water and cook for around one hour until tender. 2 Chop the onion and garlic until very fine (or puree in a food processor), then fry gently in a little oil. Meanwhile, chop and mix the herbs, oil, lemon juice, chilli and spices. 3 Add this mixture to the onions and garlic, then cook for a few minutes. Add the passata and tomato puree plus 100ml of water, which you can first use to wash the remains of the passata out of the jar or packet it came in. 4 Cook for a few more minutes and then add the beans. Continue to simmer and taste – adjust seasoning with sugar, salt and pepper. The beans will be ready as soon as the seasoning is balanced, although you can leave them to reduce if you would prefer a thicker sauce. 5 Eat straight away or allow it to cool, divide into portions and freeze. It's delicious eaten with pitta bread, tomato salad and a fried egg.