Make Ahead
Besara, or Green Houmous
- Makes a nice bowl-full
Author Notes
Besara is an Egyptian dish, made from (depending on the recipe) eitehr dry favas or fresh favas. I've made this from fresh favas with lots of fresh herbs. All of the herbs used are commonly found in Egyptian cooking, even dill. I serve this like a houmous, at room temperature or even slightly warm. I'm too lazy to work the end product through a sieve to get it really smooth, but feel free to do so! —innoabrd
What You'll Need
Ingredients
-
10 ounces
fresh, young favas, de-podded and shelled (if they're older and the crease has gone brown)
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1
onion, thinly sliced
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3
cloves garlic, peeled
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1 bunch
dill
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1 bunch
parsley
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1 bunch
fresh coriander (cilantro)
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1 bunch
mint
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1 teaspoon
ground cumin
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1
fresh green chili
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salt
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crushed Aleppo red pepper
Directions
- Throw the fava beans, the onion, the garlic and half of the fresh herbs into a pot of boiling water. Bring back to the boil and simmer just long enough to soften the beans some. If they're really young and tender, this will be at most a minute. If they're older, you might give them a few minutes.
- Saving a cup or so of the water, drain the bean mixture. Toss it into a blender or food processor and process til mostly smooth.
- Heat a splash of olive oil in your pan, and when it is hot add the cumin, fresh chili, Aleppo pepper and salt. Give it a stir or two to release the flavours, then return the bean mixture to the pan. If it's stiff, add a little bit of the reserved cooking water. Make sure to scrape all the spices off the bottom!
- Cook over a lowish heat for another five minutes or so, then return it to the food processor along with the remaining fresh herbs. Process until smooth as you can get it, and if you feel really inspired, work it through a mesh sieve to make it REALLY smooth!
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