Deeply rooted in Coptic tradition, Egyptian Bissara is a vegan green creamy dip made of cooked split fava beans, fresh aromatic herbs, and bold spices, all topped with crispy fried shallots.
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Bissara holds a special place in my heart as a cherished dish during Coptic fasting periods, when we abstain from meat and dairy products. Its creamy texture, made entirely from humble plant-based ingredients like split fava beans, garlic, and fresh herbs, embodies the spirit of simplicity and nourishment. Growing up, the aroma of simmering vegan Egyptian Bissara filled our grandmother’s home during fasting days, offering comfort and a sense of connection to our ancient heritage. Recreating it now in my immigrant kitchen in the US feels like honoring those traditions while sharing a timeless recipe with my diaspora family. I meant the word to me publishing my grandma’s Bissara on the popular platform Serious Eats.
What is Bissara (Vegan Egyptian Dip of Split Fava Beans)
Bissara is an ancient Egyptian heritage dish that probably goes back to the Greco-Roman Era. The world Bissara derives from the Coptic (Egypt’s main language before the Arab invasion) word Pisawar, which means smashed beans.
Unlike some Egyptian dishes that are common with other Arab countries, vegan Bissara is unique to Egypt, with the exception of Morocco, which has a Bissara soup that bears the same name and calls for the same ingredients, yet possesses the consistency of a soup and not a dip.
Ingredients of Vegan Egyptian Bissara
- Split Fava Beans: (dried and peeled) – the base of the dish.
- Onion: Use yellow or red onions.
- Garlic: Use any type of fresh garlic
- Fresh herbs: Use fresh parsley, dill, and cilantro, for freshness and aroma.
- Spices: Use cumin, coriander, salt, and black pepper and garnish with a dash of paprika or Aleppo pepper.
- Oil: Use unflavored oil such as canola.
- Fried Onions: Fry your own or use store-bought fried onions.
Why You Will love Vegan Egyptian Bissara
- Easy: Simple ingredients and straightforward preparation make it quick to cook.
- Economic: Made with affordable, pantry-friendly ingredients like split fava beans and herbs.
- Interesting: A unique blend of flavors and textures that showcase the depth of Egyptian cuisine.
- Healthy: Packed with protein, fiber, and essential nutrients, making it a nourishing meal.
- Vegan: A naturally plant-based dish, perfect for those following vegan or vegetarian diets.
- One-Pot Wonder: Minimal cleanup required with just one pot for cooking.
- Vegan & gluten free dip: Egyptian Bissara is a humble vegan dish, that carries a high nutrition value, as the Split Fava Beans are immune boosters and loaded with nutrients.
- Zero Food Waste: Bissara can use all the about-to-wilt aromatic herbs lying in your fridge.
- Freezer Friendly: Store cooked Bissara in ziplocks and freezer for up to 3 months.
How to Make Vegan Egyptian Bissara
- Soak the split fava beans in cold water overnight. The second day, you rinse it with tap water and you combine it with the rest of ingredients in one pot to slowly cook it.
- Bring the pot to a gentle simmer over low heat for almost 30-40 minutes, until the split fava beans are too soft and the herbs are totally wilted.
- Add 1/2 cup of canola oil or any unflavored oil in a skillet and heat, add the sliced onions and fry until the fried onions colors turn unto a light golden color. Transfer the fried onions to fine mesh sieve fitted over a bowel to discard excess oil.
- When the beans are thoroughly cooked along with the rest of the ingredients, Let it come to room temperature and then transfer it to the container of a food processor and puree it, while drizzling the onion infused oil, one spoonful at a time, until a creamy paste forms.
- Return the Bissara to the pot to reheat it. Taste and adjust the seasonings.
Tips to Make the Best Egyptian Bissara
- Pick the right beans which is the split fava beans and not regular fava beans.
- Use unflavored oil to fry the onions or shallots.
- As an alternative to stove top, you can either use a slow cooker/crock pot or an instant pot to cook the beans along with the rest of the ingredients. While it is cooking, fry the shallots or yellow onions to make the crispy fried onion.
- Please note that this is a zero food waste recipe, so don’t discard the frying oil as you will use it to cook the rest of the ingredients.
- A dash of sweet paprika or Aleppo pepper to garnish go a long way.
- Avoid using red onions as they take forever to crunch up and has excessive amount of sugar. Your best bet is either shallots or yellow onions.
- Slice the onions thinly as you can, then spread them in one layer over absorbent paper for 10 minute to get rid of the excess liquid.
- Don’t let the oil getting too hot. Add the onions to the oil when it is warming up.
- Sprinkle a spoonful of salt to flavor the onions, once you add them to the oil.
- Keep stirring the onions in the hot oil to evenly fry them.
- Fry the onions until they are light golden brown, don’t over fry so they don’t get bitter.
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Don’t shy away from heat! One green pepper chili will lend the Bissara a pleasant kick, without being too spicy or unbearably hot.
What to Serve with Egyptian Bissara
- Egyptian Green Salad (Salata Baladi)
- Egyptian Bread (Aish Baladi), coming soon to my blog
- Pita Chips
More Egyptian Beans Recipes
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: Can I make Egyptian Bissara Ahead?
Absolutely, you can make Bissara three days ahead and store it in airtight container in the fridge.
Q2: How can I reheat Bissara?
You can reheat Bissara in the microwave for 1 minute or 90 seconds. You can also heat on stove top on low heat. Add some hot water or hot vegetable broth to Bissara if it gets too thick.
Q3: Can I freeze Egyptian Bissara?
Yes, you can store it in freezer ziplocks n the freezer for 1-3 months.
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Egyptian Bissara Recipe
Ingredients
For the Shallot-Infused Oil and Fried Shallots
- 1 cup neutral frying oil, such as canola
- 10 sliced medium shallots, or yellow onions
- ½ teaspoon Himalayan salt
For the Bissara
- 2 cups dried split fava beans, 12.7 ounces; 360g, rinsed
- 2 cups packed fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems, 2 ounces; 57g, divided
- 1 cup packed flat-leaf parsley leaves, 1 ounce; 30g
- 1 quartered medium yellow or red onion
- ¼ cup/10g packed fresh dill
- 3 medium cloves garlic, 12g, peeled
- 1 green chile pepper
- 1 teaspoon dry mint
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon sweet paprika
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon Himalayan , use half as much by volume
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons shallot-infused oil (recipe above)
Garnish & Serve
- 1 tablespoon shallot-infused oil
- ¼ teaspoon sweet paprika or Aleppo pepper
- Fried shallots, recipe is above.
- Store-bought pita chips
Instructions
- For the Shallot-Infused Oil and Fried Shallots: In an 8-inch skillet, combine 1 cup neutral frying oil, such as canolaneutral frying oil, over medium-low heat. Once it is warm to touch, add 10 sliced medium shallots and cook, stirring often, until shallots are light golden brown and crisp.
- Strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a heatproof bowl. Set shallot-infused oil aside to cool.
- Store the fried shallots in an airtight container until you are ready to garnish the bissara. Store the shallot-infused oil in a clean jar.
- For the Bissara: Add the 2 cups dried split fava beans beans to a large bowl; cover with cold water by at least 2 inches. Cover and set aside to soak overnight (at least 12 hours or up to 24 hours) at room temperature. The second day, transfer the beans to a colander and rinse well under cold water; drain.
- In a 7-quart Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot, combine the s" uid="7"]plit fava beans, 1 cup packed flat-leaf parsley leaves, 1 cup of cilantro, 1/4 cup dill, a quartered n" uid="9"], dill, [adjustable]" uid="11"], green chili pepper, [adjustable][wprm-ingredient style="bold" text="1 teaspoon dry mint" uid="13"], teaspoon ground cumin" uid="14"], 1 teaspoon ground coriander, 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, and " uid="19"]. Stir in " uid="20"] and 30ml shallot-infused oil (recipe above)" uid="21"] (the beans will not be fully submerged in liquid; that’s okay). Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low and let the beans simmer gently, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour. (Your beans may finish cooking in less than an hour; continue simmering to reduce the liquid until to a thick porridge-like consistency.) The beans should be soft and easy to crush with a fork. Make sure to stir every now and then so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan and burn. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool completely to room temperature, 60 to 90 minutes (mixture will thicken as it cools).
- Transfer cooled mixture to a food processor, add the remaining 1 cup fresh cilantro and process until you reach a creamy consistency similar to hummus, about 1 minute, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed. In case the dip is anything less than vibrant green, just add some more fresh parsley or cilantro herbs to punch up the color. Taste the bissara and adjust the seasoning.
- Transfer the bissara back to the pot to reheat gently over low heat until just warm or serve at room temperature.
- To Serve: Transfer the bissara to a serving bowl and drizzle with shallot-infused oil, garnish with a flutter of paprika, and top with the fried shallots. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature with pita chips and/or vegetable sticks.
Nermine's Notes
- The consistency of Bosara should be more or less like a hummus dip, not too thick but not too liquidy either.
- In some countries, garlic could be pungent, therefore I recommend using roasted garlic instead, if needed.
- Ideally, use a heat diffuser to make sure the Bosara doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan while it simmers.
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