Chef Zohra
Bakoula (بقولة)
Mallow greens cooked soft and dark with garlic, cumin, preserved lemon, and olives, the Moroccan cooked salad that tastes of spring rain and a loaf of khobz shared warm.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Foul Mchermel (فول مشرمل)
Created by
Fresh fava beans cooked until tender, then folded warm into chermoula of garlic, cumin, paprika, coriander, and preserved lemon. Spring food for a shared bowl, carried to the table with bread.
Salads
Moroccan
Weeknight
Budget Friendly
Comfort Food
30 min
Active Time
20 min cook•50 min total
Yield4 servings
When the fava pods arrive in spring, swollen and green inside their jackets, this is the salad I want on the table before anything grand appears. Foul mchermel is not fussy food, it is careful food: fresh beans, garlic, cumin, paprika, coriander, olive oil, and preserved lemon gathered into chermoula. If the pods are young, the beans stay tender in their skins. If they are older, you peel them, because no good sauce can rescue a tough skin.
The rule is warmth. Cook the beans until they yield, then let them meet the chermoula while still warm, because warm beans drink flavor instead of wearing it like a coat. The sauce should end glossy and close, clinging to each bean, with coriander bright at the end and the preserved lemon waking up the whole bowl.
Serve it warm or at room temperature with round khobz, and put the bowl in the middle. Someone will tear bread, someone will reach across, someone will take more than they planned. Une table, c'est une porte qu'on laisse ouverte, a table is a door you leave open, and a spring salad like this knows how to hold it.
Broad beans were cultivated around the Mediterranean and North Africa in antiquity, long before the Idrisid dynasty founded Fez in 789, and they remain central to Amazigh country cooking as well as urban cooked-salad tables. Mchermel means seasoned with chermoula, the Moroccan grammar of garlic, cumin, herbs, olive oil, and acid; the paprika in today's versions came only after peppers moved from the Americas into Iberian and North African kitchens in the 16th century. No single city owns foul mchermel, and that is honest: it belongs to des cuisines marocaines, not one flattened cuisine.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
fresh fava pods
Quantity
1.5 kg
shelled, yielding about 550g beans; or use 500g frozen peeled fava beans
extra-virgin olive oil
Quantity
4 tbsp, plus more to finish
garlic cloves
Quantity
3
pounded or finely grated
ground cumin
Quantity
1 tsp
sweet paprika
Quantity
1 tsp
cayenne or hot paprika (optional)
Quantity
1/4 tsp
sea salt
Quantity
1/2 tsp, plus more to taste
black pepper
Quantity
1/4 tsp
water
Quantity
120ml, plus more as needed
fresh coriander
Quantity
1 small bunch
chopped
flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
2 tbsp
chopped
preserved lemon
Quantity
1/2
pulp removed, rind finely chopped
preserved lemon brine (optional)
Quantity
1 tbsp
to taste
green or purple olives (optional)
Quantity
12
round khobz
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| fresh fava podsshelled, yielding about 550g beans; or use 500g frozen peeled fava beans | 1.5 kg |
| extra-virgin olive oil | 4 tbsp, plus more to finish |
| garlic clovespounded or finely grated | 3 |
| ground cumin | 1 tsp |
| sweet paprika | 1 tsp |
| cayenne or hot paprika (optional) | 1/4 tsp |
| sea salt | 1/2 tsp, plus more to taste |
| black pepper | 1/4 tsp |
| water | 120ml, plus more as needed |
| fresh corianderchopped | 1 small bunch |
| flat-leaf parsleychopped | 2 tbsp |
| preserved lemonpulp removed, rind finely chopped | 1/2 |
| preserved lemon brine (optional)to taste | 1 tbsp |
| green or purple olives (optional) | 12 |
| round khobz | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •Wide shallow pan or clay tagine, about 28 cm
- •Mortar and pestle
- •Slotted spoon for blanching large beans
Instructions
- 1
Shell the beans
Open the pods and collect the beans. If the beans are very small and spring-tender, leave their pale skins on; if they are large, blanch them 1 minute, cool them, and slip off the skins so the salad stays tender. Frozen peeled favas can go straight into the pan.
Fresh favas are right when the pods feel heavy and the beans smell green, not dry. Out of season, frozen peeled favas are more honest than tired pods. - 2
Wake the chermoula
Set a wide pan over medium-low heat and add the olive oil, garlic, cumin, paprika, cayenne if using, salt, and pepper. Stir for 30 seconds, just until the garlic smells sweet and the oil turns red-gold. Don't let the garlic brown, because browned garlic makes the chermoula bitter before the beans even arrive.
- 3
Simmer the beans
Add the fava beans and 120ml water, then turn them through the chermoula until every bean is coated. Cover and simmer gently for 12 to 18 minutes for fresh beans, or 8 to 12 minutes for frozen peeled beans, until one bean crushes easily against the side of the pan. If the pan dries before the beans soften, add water by the spoonful.
Do not leave the beans squeaky and bright just to keep their color. Foul mchermel needs softness, so the beans can take in the sauce. - 4
Tighten the sauce
Uncover the pan and simmer until the liquid reduces to a glossy coating. Stir in the coriander, parsley, preserved lemon rind, and olives if using. Taste before adding the preserved lemon brine, because preserved lemon carries salt. The beans should be soft, shiny, and close-coated, not swimming.
- 5
Serve with khobz
Let the salad rest 10 minutes, then spoon it into a shallow beldi bowl and finish with a thin thread of olive oil. Serve warm or at room temperature with round khobz for scooping. No fork is necessary unless your table wants one.
Chef Tips
- •Chermoula changes from house to house, but keep the grammar honest: garlic, cumin, paprika, coriander, olive oil, and preserved lemon. La balance est dans les yeux, the scale is in the eyes.
- •If your fava beans are large and their skins feel leathery, peel them. A tough skin stays tough no matter how good your chermoula is.
- •Add the preserved lemon near the end so it stays bright. Rinse the rind first if it is very salty, then taste before adding more salt.
- •This is a spring dish, but frozen peeled favas keep the door open the rest of the year. The market always has an answer.
Advance Preparation
- •Shell fresh favas up to 1 day ahead and keep them covered in the refrigerator.
- •Cooked foul mchermel keeps 2 days chilled. Bring it to room temperature and gloss it with a little olive oil before serving.
- •For guests, cook it in the morning and serve it later the same day; the chermoula settles into the beans beautifully.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 245g)
Calories
400 calories
Total Fat
21 g
Saturated Fat
3 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
18 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
1100 mg
Total Carbohydrates
44 g
Dietary Fiber
8 g
Sugars
5 g
Protein
12 g
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary ExplorerMore from Moroccan Salads (Salades Cuites & Crues)
Browse the full collection
Chef Zohra
Batata Mchermla (بطاطا مشرملة)
Potatoes simmered until tender, then turned while warm through chermoula, garlic, cumin, paprika, coriander, olive oil, and preserved lemon. This is a weeknight Moroccan salad that still opens the table.
Chef Zohra
Khizou bel Limoun (خيزو بالليمون)
Fine-grated carrot dressed with orange juice, a little sugar, orange-flower water, and cinnamon. Khizou bel limoun is the fresh raw counterpoint that wakes up a Moroccan table.
Chef Zohra
Khizou Mchermel (خيزو مشرمل)
Carrot rounds simmered tender, then turned while warm through cumin, garlic, fresh coriander, olive oil, and preserved lemon. A cooked salata for bread, weeknights, and the table that widens.