Besara (broad bean / fava bean dip)

I was prompted to upload this recipe after hearing my mother wax lyrical about the humble broad bean (fava bean) the other night. Her theory being that mother nature must have known just how special they were because unlike peas and their simple unadorned pod, broad beans are swaddled in a luxurious fur lined casing that befits their role as king of the beans.
Broad beans are a much maligned pulse in a lot of Western (or specifically Northern European) cooking, however head further south and they take on a much more important role. None more  so than in Egypt where in addition to being the star of the ultimate breakfast food fuul medames, they are also found in the Egyptian version of falafel (taameya) and fuul nabet (sprouted bean soup) to name just a few dishes. 

Egyptian bean dishes traditionally use the dried fava beans, I had fresh frozen, while the flavour is perhaps not as concentrated and rich as the slow cooked dried beans, I decided that I would try making the fava bean dip known as besara (or bessara, b'ssara etc depending on transliteration). While traditionally Egyptian it is also found in Morocco. If you want to go down the more traditional route then substitute the 500g fresh beans for dried. Soak them overnight and then cook according to your preference.

Ingredients
500g fresh broad beans (or frozen)
1 large bunch of coriander
1 large bunch of dill
1 large bunch of parsley
Olive oil
4 cloves of garlic (crushed)
Salt and pepper to taste 

For the tasha (garlic and coriander seasoning):
Olive oil
2 cloves of garlic (crushed)
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin

1. Add the beans to water and boil for around 10 minutes, drain (reserving a little of the cooking liquid) and once cool enough to handle, take off the skins. This is time consuming. Ideally for this part of the recipe it helps to have a mother who's idea of a good evening is watching antiques shows on TV whilst skinning broad beans :)
2. Once the beans are skinned (you don't have to be too obsessive about it, but really the taste and texture is so much better) add them to a blender with a good glug of olive oil, the fresh coriander, dill and parsley, crushed garlic and blend until smooth. If the resulting mixture is too thick then add a little of the cooking liquid until you have the desired consistency and season to taste
3. To make the tasha seasoning (so called because when you add the hot oil to the bean mixture it makes a "tssssha" sound) heat some olive oil in a pan and fry the remaining crushed garlic until it is lightly browned, add the coriander and cumin and cook for another few minutes then pour the hot oil and spice mixture into the pureed beans
4. To serve, transfer into a deep serving plate and top with some fried onions. Delicious!