Ta’ameya

Ingredients

Patties

• 500 gdried split skinless fava beans (ful nabed), soaked 12 hours in cold water, drained
• 1large bunch flat-leaf parsley (80 g), thick stalks removed
• 1 bunchdill (50 g)
• 1 bunchcoriander (50 g)
• 6spring onions or 1 leek, roughly chopped
• 1small onion, quartered
• 8garlic cloves, peeled
• 2green chillies, stalks removed
• 2 tspground coriander
• 1 tspground cumin
• 2 tspfine salt
• 1 tspbicarbonate of soda
• 5 tbspwhite sesame seeds

To fry and serve

• 1.5 litressunflower oil, for deep-frying
• 4baladi (wholemeal pita) breads, warmed
• 150 mltahina sauce (tahini loosened with lemon juice, garlic and water)
• 2tomatoes, sliced
• 150 gpickled turnips and pickled chillies

Directions

1. Drain the soaked beans thoroughly and spread on a towel for 10 minutes. A wet paste drinks oil and the patties disintegrate.
2. Pass the beans, herbs, spring onion, onion, garlic and chillies through the fine plate of a mincer, twice, or pulse in a food processor in three batches until the paste is vivid green and has the texture of damp couscous, never a smooth puree.
3. Mix in the ground coriander, cumin and salt, cover and chill 1 hour so the herbs bleed their colour through the paste.
4. Just before frying, sprinkle over the bicarbonate of soda with 2 tbsp water and beat hard by hand for a minute; the paste lightens and swells slightly.
5. Heat the oil in a deep pan to 170°C (350°F), checked with a thermometer or by a cube of bread browning in 40 seconds.
6. Shape with an aleb (falafel scoop) or wet hands into 5 cm discs 1.5 cm thick and press one face firmly into the sesame seeds.
7. Slide in sesame-side down, six at a time, and fry 3–4 minutes a side until deep mahogany and light in the tongs; a broken one should be steaming, fluffy and still bright green inside.
8. Drain on a rack, not paper. Split the baladi bread, stuff with hot ta’ameya, crush lightly with the thumb, spoon over tahina and add tomato and pickles. Eat within minutes.

Technique

• Egyptian ta’ameya is made from raw soaked fava beans only, never cooked or tinned beans and never chickpeas; cooked beans go gluey and the patty collapses in the oil.
• Add the bicarbonate at the last moment. Left standing it dulls the herb colour and the patties fry up grey and dense.
• 170°C (350°F) is the window. Hotter and the sesame burns before the middle cooks; cooler and the patty soaks fat and sags.
• The colour comes from the sheer volume of herbs, not from spice; roughly one part greens to two parts beans by weight.

Substitutions

• No split favas: whole dried fava beans soaked 24 hours and skinned by hand work, but the skins must come off or the texture turns grainy and grey.
• Baladi bread can be replaced by thick wholemeal pita warmed on a dry pan until it puffs.

Variations

• Ta’ameya bil-bayd: the paste wrapped around half a hard-boiled egg before frying, an Alexandrian breakfast.
• Some Cairo cooks work in a spoonful of dried mint and a pinch of ground fenugreek for a greener, more bitter finish.

History

Egypt’s falafel uses dried fava beans, not chickpeas; the name means little morsel and Coptic Christians are often credited with the Lenten fritter.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ta’ameya?

Ta’ameya is a street food from Egypt: herb-green fava-bean falafel crusted with sesame, stuffed into baladi bread. Egypt’s falafel uses dried fava beans, not chickpeas; the name means little morsel and Coptic Christians are often credited with the Lenten fritter.

How long does Ta’ameya take to make?

Ta’ameya takes 30 min of preparation and 12 hr soak + 25 min frying of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings (about 24 patties). It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Ta’ameya?

Yes, within limits. No split favas: whole dried fava beans soaked 24 hours and skinned by hand work, but the skins must come off or the texture turns grainy and grey. Baladi bread can be replaced by thick wholemeal pita warmed on a dry pan until it puffs.

What is the most important thing to get right in Ta’ameya?

Pass the beans, herbs, spring onion, onion, garlic and chillies through the fine plate of a mincer, twice, or pulse in a food processor in three batches until the paste is vivid green and has the texture of damp couscous, never a smooth puree.