Mufarakat Ful, A Quick Mid-week Supper


When I posted a recipe of my take on the Syrian classic Mufaraket Batata, my friends Rania and Tammam ended up "hotly debating" what makes dish Mufarakeh. Rania objected to me using the name for my version. At the time I thought the dishes with the generic name "Mufarakeh" have very little in common.

This discussion remained in my mind ever since. After some soul searching and some extensive research (I gave my mum a call), I came to the conclusion that all these dishes are essentially the same thing. The only difference is the main ingredient. The other differences are simply variations of the recipe.

Rania, you were right!

Mufarakeh is a dish made with chopped onion, minced meat and the chopped main ingredient. Cooked in that order. The main variation is the addition of eggs towards the end. The only vegetarian version I know is Mufaraket Kousa (Courgettes Mufarakeh) although many people cook it with meat.

Mufaraket Ful (Broad Bean Mufarakeh) is a perfect quick dish for a late dinner after a long day at work. Hearty, healthy and quick to make.


Here is my Broad Bean Mufarakeh recipe:

Broad Beans 500g frozen or fresh
Minced lamb 200g
One large onion
Two eggs (optional)
Ghee clarified butter 1tbs
Salt
Pepper

Broad beans could have tough skin that some people find off-putting. Feel free to peel them before using them. I usually buy frozen baby broad beans with lovely soft skin so I don't.These are available from Tesco's own brand.

Finely chop the onions and fry on a medium heat in the ghee butter. Once soft add the minced meat and cook. fully. Season with a generous amount of salt and pepper Add the frozen beans and very little water to help the cooking. Cover and cook from 10 to 15 minutes until the beans cooked the way you like them.

Uncover the pot and let most of the water evaporate on high heat. Break the two eggs and stir quickly to cook in a scrambled egg fashion.

Serve with Arabic flat bread and a nice salad or Greek style yoghurt on the side.

12 comments:

Unknown said...

Cool!
Surely the vegetarian one will appear sometime ~ I say hopefully!

Maysaloon said...

Joy,
You might want to try Fool Mo'alla, it is similar but with coriander and garlic and you can also have it with Greek Style yoghurt on the side or with Arabic flat bread, it can also be eaten cold.

Kano said...

@joy

The vegetarian version @maysaloon mentioned is already on the website. You can find it in my "meal for 2 under a fiver" post

http://syrianfoodie.blogspot.com/2009/05/two-course-meal-under-fiver.html

Anonymous said...

I'm headed for London at the end of the week. Do you have a Syrian restaurant you can recommend?

tasteofbeirut said...

I love mufaraket anything! never had it with broad beans though; sounds good! In Lebanon we make it with coriander and garlic and skip the eggs.

Kano said...

@Anonymous
Sorry for the late reply, I was quite busy last week. This might come late but I will tell you anyway.
Most of the Syrian owned/run places call themselves Lebanese. The best one is Al-Waha in Notting Hill area. They serve traditional Levantine grills/mezze combo and they serve some traditional Syrian cooking. Mainly Aleppean cuisine.
There are few restaurants that call themselves Syrian or Damascene. The best is Abu Zaad in Shepherd's Bush or their other branch on Edgware Road.

Kano said...

@tasteofbeirut

The coriander and garlic version in Syria is called Ful Ma'ala.

kasia said...

Hi!
Have to say: your ful was full succes! :) My husband is Lebanese and he loved it! I pop the recipe into my blog (it's in Polish, but still you can see the photos):
http://lejdi-of-the-house.bloog.pl/id,328764123,title,Mufarakat-Ful,index.html
I made it first, but surely not last time! AND I've seen few more things I'd like to try.
Salam! :)

Kano said...

@Kasia1977

Welcome to my blog!

I am so glad you tried this recipe and both you and your husband loved it.

Your pictures look very good. Better than mine :)

Please let me know how it goes when you try more recipes.

Anonymous said...

hihi kano i love your blog
we do moufarrake but without meat we chopped all kind of herbs parsley mint celery scallions fresh oregano ... after cooking the fava beans separate we beat the eggs with the chopped greens then fold the mixture with the fava beans in the pan rapidly on the fire it is a delicious and flavored meal

Kano said...

@anonymous

Welcome to my blog and sorry for the late reply.

Where is the recipe you mentioned from? Syria or surrounding countries?

Anonymous said...

Syria Damascus, my mom is from Damascus . She loved foul in all recipes but this was one of our favorite. We grew up in Lebanon and on passover 9I guess the fava beans were in seasons) we used to eat this moufarake.

Post a Comment