I’d be lying if I said I just whipped up a batch of this soup….in fact I’ve been waiting for months it seems to share this recipe with everyone: Shorbit Ful Nabet, or sprouted bean soup. It also come with a two-for-one: Ful Nabet snack (seasoned beans).
Sprouted bean snack
Now ful nabet, or quite simply sprouted bean is a snack. And while you may not have the natural reflex to order it somewhere, you’ll often find it just lying around when you order drinks or accompanying a bowl of nuts. And then you can’t stop. The tanginess of the lemon juice mixed with the salt and the crunch of the bean lightly dusted in cumin all work perfectly to keep you wanting more. And before you know it you’ve eaten the whole bowl. I’ll also give the recipe for this snack.
Sprouted bean snack or soup: The bean of time
Many of the bean culinary traditions in Egypt go back to the days of the pharaohs and then were kept up by the Coptic community, who often switch between vegan fasts and normal eating. So, ful mudammas , perhaps falafel (using fava beans, not chickpeas), red lentil soup, brown lentil soup, are all examples of staples still going strong amongst Egyptians, particularly among the Copts.
My paternal grandmother was known to snack on ful nabet during certain fasts when she was trying to stay away from animal products, or was trying to lose a little weight.
But we didn’t have it in our household growing up, so I never paid much attention to it. However, during a trip to Egypt, at a bar, the waiter plopped a bowl of it down on my table to accompany my beer, and I soon began to notice it at many cafés and bars. And so began the obsession.
Not a family tradition
The ful nabet soup is something we never had in the family, but it is a thing. And it’s a big thing in the smaller villages where tradition is still very much intact. One book which I picked up, called ‘Cairo Kitchen’ (as an fyi, my name the Egyptian Kitchen came first…but who’s keeping track), notes in her recipe for ful nabet soup that large pots of it are made on special occasions and are given out to friends and family.
Whether you’re making the soup or just the beans, this has to be prepared in advance as the bean needs to sprout, hence the sprouted bean. You need at least five to six days to let the beans sprout and then 2 hours to actually cook the bean. But once done, the assembly is easy.
Ful hammam vs broad bean
Now when it comes to the bean, there’s always confusion: the broad bean or the ful hammam bean. This recipe uses the broad bean. The same one used for falafel.
So it’s bigger and meatier inside, but it also has the distinct black mark on the front. You need the dry variety for this recipe. The other ful bean (smaller) is the one used in the ful mudammas.
Ancient bubble gum
My recipe for the soup also calls for mastic grains. Mastic is the original chewing gum, it’s the resin from the tree that comes from the Greek island of Chios. The ancient Greeks revered it for its medicinal properties.
Through trade it has made its way into Middle Eastern cooking and a few Egyptian recipes do use it. It has a slight pine taste to it. Now if you can get some, fantastic. If not, don’t sweat it. Most people don’t have this lying around the house. But if you want to find it, try Middle Eastern or Greek supermarkets.
Ful Nabet and Shorbit Ful Nabet (sprouted bean and sprouted bean soup)
Ingredients
- 500 g Dried broad fava beans
Ful Nabet (snack)
- 2.8 g (1 tsp) Dried ground cumin
- Lemon juice
- Salt
Shorbit Ful Nabet (soup)
- 1 Onion
- Olive oil (or any oil)
- 6 g (1 tbsp) cumin seeds
- 3-4 grains mastic (if available)
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 fresh chili (optional)
- 1.5 l (6.3 cups) water or chicken stock
- 1 lemon cut into wedges
- 1 loaf pita bread
- 1 bunch fresh coriander (if available)
Instructions
Sprouting the beans
- Place the dry fava beans in a shallow bowl.
- Add just enough water to cover the beans.
- Cover with a damp towel and leave in a cool place.
- Change the water daily.
- Once beans have begun to sprout, rinse and drain before using.
- Ful bean at day 2.
- Ful bean at day 3.
- Ful bean at day 4.
- Ful bean at day 5.
Ful Nabet (snack)
- Boil beans in water and salt for one to two hours (test along the way).
- Mix beans with cumin.
- Add a pinch of salt.
- Squeeze some lemon juice.
- Adjust salt and lemon to taste.
Ful Nabet shorbit (soup)
- Add cumin seeds to a hot and dry frying pan.
- While constantly stirring the seeds, roast them until they turn a golden brown colour.
- Take off heat.
- Chop onion and add to a big pot with some oil and mastic grains if you have them.
- Saute the onion until soft.
- Add water, garlic, salt and chili (if using) to the pot.
- Add the toasted cumin and beans.
- Turn down heat and leave to simmer for 25 to 30 minutes.
- If you want pita chips, cut pita bread into small pieces and fry in oil until golden, then salt lightly.
- Serve soup with fresh coriander leaves, some pita chips and a squeeze of lemon.
