Moroccan Fava Bean Dip
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups Dried fava beans About 200 g
- 2 Garlic cloves
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup Lemon Juice
- 2 tbsp Reserved cooking liquid or more
- 1 ½ tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Cumin powder
- ½ tsp Sweet paprika
- ½ tsp Hot paprika or cayenne pepper
- Cumin, paprika, salt and olive oil, as condiments
- Harissa, as a condiment
- Chopped parsley or cilantro, for garnish optional
Instructions
- Ahead of time, place the dried fava beans in a large bowl and cover with a generous amount of cold water. Set aside to soak overnight or all day.
- When ready to cook, drain the beans and peel them if they weren't already skinned and split.
- Transfer the peeled fava beans to a medium-sized pot and cover with a generous amount of water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer the beans until tender, one hour or longer.
- Drain the beans, reserving the liquid.
- Transfer the drained beans to a food processor, and add the garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, two tablespoons of the reserved liquid, and spices. Process on high speed until smooth, adding additional liquid if necessary to thin the bessara. At minimum it should be thin enough to pour out onto a plate, but may be thinned even more if a soup-like consistenty is preferred.
- Taste the bessara and adjust the seasoning as desired.
- Reheat the bessara and serve warm, preferably in a warm dish so that the bessara doesn't cool rapidly.
- Garnish with any of the following: ground cumin, paprika, salt, harissa or cayenne, olive oil, and chopped parsley.