Ful (Fava Bean Stew)

Ful is the fava bean stew that starts mornings across Ethiopia — and across the wider Horn of Africa — sold from sidewalk cauldrons and made in home kitchens alike. The beans are simmered until they collapse, then mashed with onion, tomato, and jalapeño into a thick, olive-oil-shimmering bowl. It is humble, filling food, usually eaten with injera or fresh bread and often crowned with a hard-boiled egg.

A creamy, garlicky bowl to start the day

The beans turn velvety and rich, with the tomatoes lending sweetness and the jalapeño a clean heat that lingers just enough to wake you up. A generous pour of olive oil on top is not optional decoration — it is part of the dish, adding fruitiness to every scoop. Canned fava beans make a respectable weeknight shortcut, but soaked dried beans give the ful that slow, deeply savory character worth planning for. It is the kind of breakfast that fuels a whole morning on a single bowl.

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