Byessar (Moroccan Broad Bean Dip)
"Did you know that for the ancient Egyptians, beans were seen as a symbol of reincarnation and that they represented the rebirth of spring each year? I found this fabulous recipe for a Moroccan broad bean dip in the first edition - September 2005 - of the new Australian magazine 'Notebook: ideas for living'. It was part of an article on peas and beans. The 'cooking time' specified below does not include the 20 minutes cooling time in the refrigerator, necessary for allowing the flavours to blend. When I made this, I used frozen broad beans, thawed; they were baby beans so they didn't need peeling; and I used cumin because I haven't yet tracked down any ras el hanout. I also used 4 cloves of garlic - which is what I've included here in the ingredients; the original recipe had 1 clove of garlic."
photo by Queen Dana
- Ready In:
- 25mins
- Ingredients:
- 7
- Yields:
-
2 cups
ingredients
- 1 kg broad bean (2 cups shelled beans, frozen baby beans, thawed, work well)
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped preserved lemon rind
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons ras el hanout spice mix
- 1⁄2 cup olive oil
- 1 lemon, juice of
- 1⁄4 cup coriander, coarsely chopped
directions
- Split the broad bean pods along the seams, remove the beans and discard the pods; cook the beans in boiling salted water for 4-5 minutes or until just tender; drain; refresh in iced water; then drain again.
- Peel and discard the skins from the larger beans (leave the smaller ones unpeeled).
- Process the broad beans, preserved lemon, garlic, ras el hanout, oil and lemon juice for 1 minute. (Add a little water if the mixture is too thick).
- Season to taste with salt and pepper, and cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes to allow the flavours to combine.
- When ready to serve, stir in the coarsely cut coriander leaves, and serve as part of a mezze plate with Moroccan-style flat bread, black olives and Lebanese cucumber.
- Notes: Ras el hanout is a Moroccan spice blend containing up to 20 different spices. It's available from Middle Eastern food stores, delicatessens or, for Australian members of Zaar, from Herbie's Spices (02)9555 6035, www.herbies.com.au. If you are unable to obtain ras el hanout, you can use ground cumin instead.
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Reviews
-
Great flavor from the ras el hanout and lemon combination. We used French Tart's "Recipe #205185". Very interesting change of pace from the usual dips. -
Great recipe, I made it with dried broad beans that I'd soaked overnight and then cooked with some rosemary in the cookign water. Worked terrifically well, thanks for a lovely recipe. -
This recipe was great considering it's made with Broad beans... I made up 1 1/2 of the recipe and found that I didn't want to add anywhere near that much oil so I used a couple of tbs of plain yoghurt and also subsituted lemon juice for the preserved lemon to add more liquid. I think that the changes made it a really healthy dip to eat. I thought it worked nice, my husband loves it. Will add a tsp of cumin next time. Thanks for posting! ;) -
I made up a half recipe of this little gem. Perfect for a 'meze' platter. The broad beans gave this dip a rich, earthy note and I loved the bite of preserved citrus and the addition of the ras el hanout (a GREAT spice blend). So easy to make.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
July 2008 update: VERY happy to be back on Zaar after about a two year absence due to having had no internet connection at home, and having been too unwell for a time so that getting re-connected wasn't even a priority!
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<br>And really looking forward to getting back into the Zaar world and connecting again with the many wonderful people I knew before, and new people, of course!
