How to Make Delicious Ethiopian Style Foul

I've always grown up celebrating my Ethiopian heritage through my stomach. When I was a child, I would force myself to sit through the pain of a spicy lamb wot that my mom just threw together. I always had a glass of milk right next to me, ready to chug at any moment. My mom would always ask me why I would do this to myself but I just told her that the taste makes it worth the pain.

As I got older, my grandfather would introduce me to more and more Ethiopian dishes that were easy to throw together that anyone can make. For that reason, I would like to share my family recipe.

Finding the ingredients can be hard to find sometimes but if you do some digging you will be able to create an authentic Ethiopian dish!

Supplies:

• Knife
• Bowl
• Sauce Pot
• Stovetop

Ingredients:

• 3 tbs Vegetable Oil
• 1 large Onion (medium chopped)
• 1 cup Diced Tomatoes
• 24oz canned Fava Beans (Brands like Mid East and Ziyad)
• 1/2 cup liquid from beans
• 1 Karia aka a jalapeño (chopped, including the seeds)
• 1tsp Alicha Spice (can use turmeric as an alternative)
• 1 spoon full of garlic
• A couple of spoonfuls of Quebe (can use butter as an alternative)
• A couple of spoonfuls of Berbere (can use paprika or cayenne as an alternative)

Place your saucepan on your stovetop at medium heat. Then place the onions and oil within the saucepan. Continually stir until the onions are slightly brown.

Once the onions are ready, add in the garlic and tomatoes. Cook until tomatoes are mushy. Add the karia or jalapeño into the saucepan. Leave to cook down for about 10 minutes.

Grab your can of fava beans and drain out most of the liquid. In a separate bowl, mash the beans with a fork. You want to make sure to get them to look liked mashed beans. If you prefer to have some of the skin of the fava beans in the final product then don't mush them as much.

Remember to save 1/2 cup of liquid for later!

After all the liquid has evaporated in the saucepan, add your mashed beans and 1/2 cup of the reserved liquid. Stir together.

Add in the salt and Alicha spice(or turmeric) and stir. TADA! you have foul.

The most important step to be an authentic dish is all the other essentials you add on top. Grab some white bread and enjoy your bowl of foul with toppings like:

• chopped onions
• A melted mix of Quebec and berbere (can also use an alternative of butter and cayenne/paprika)
• chopped tomatoes
• chopped bell peppers
• hard-boiled egg
• chopped green onions
• crumbled feta cheese