the broad or fava bean is an ancient staple of many middle eastern and north African cuisines. For use in the traditional recipes of these cuisines the bean is allowed to develop fully and is then dried, resulting in more nutritious dishes than in the European manner where the beans are more frequently eaten green and immature, particularly in Italy where they are harvested when the size of garden peas. In Egypt the dried bean becomes ful madames (literally ‘buried beans’) the national dish, and ta’amia, a falafel considered to be superior in every way to the chickpea concoctions favoured further north. Ground into a flour known as shiro it also plays a central role in the Ethiopian culinary tradition.

Varieties of Broad beans. SplitBroad Beans – Split ,  Broad Beans – Whole