This is my adaptation of a classic dish made by our friend Nadia. Nadia is one of the best cooks I know. She has a farmers’ market stall where she sells – or maybe ministers with – some of the best traditional food around. Nadia and her husband are from Egypt and are Coptic Orthodox Christians. They keep the Old Calendar, and she is faithfully serious about the fasts. We keep the fasts, too, but not on the level Nadia does! She was one of our sources for fasting foods, and although everything was meat, dairy and fat-free, it was still so good.

This dish is not strictly fasting, since it has oil in it.

Equipment: Medium sized kettle, skillet, knife and chopping board, metal spoons, serving dish.

Ingredients: About 2 cups dried beans: dried favas are traditional, but I use a combination of white and brown beans; 2 tablespoons or so olive oil, 1 onion, 1 large garlic clove, 1/2 cup tomato sauce, 1 fresh hot pepper, 1/2 lemon.

Put the dried beans in a kettle, add water to cover by a couple of inches above the level of the beans. Bring to a boil, then turn off the heat and let soak over night or all day. After soaking, drain the beans, rinse thoroughly, and put back in the kettle with water to cover. Boil gently until tender, maybe an hour or two, depending on the type and age of the beans. Skim the foam from the beans as they cook and add hot water to keep covered. The rinsing and skimming keep the gas-producing starch from settling back into the beans. When done, drain the beans and put back in the kettle.

Dice the onion and garlic very fine, and saute in the olive oil. Add to the beans along with the tomato sauce. De-seed and chop finely the hot pepper – I use the little hot cherry peppers from our garden. Squeeze in the juice of the 1/2 lemon – this is important to the flavour. You can add more hot pepper or chile flakes if you want it caliente.

Serve it hot off the stove or refrigerate as a salad. This is usually served with pitas or other flatbread, and is a traditional breakfast food in Egypt.

To make it a fasting food, simmer the onion and garlic in a little water to release their flavour before adding to the beans, and skip the oil.