Bissara 🫘

Method

1. 1

   Soak the beans 12 hours or overnight; they will swell and shed some skins — pick the dark bits off.

2. 2

   Cover with fresh water, add garlic and half the cumin, and simmer low for 1.5–2 hours, skimming, until the beans completely lose structure.

3. 3

   Mash or blitz the pot to a smooth, thick pourable purée — somewhere between soup and polenta. Return to the heat with a glug of oil, thinning with water until it coats a spoon without gluing.

4. 4

   Season hard: salt in, more cumin on. It should taste nutty and savoury, never beany.

5. 5

   Ladle into bowls, make a well, pour olive oil into it, scatter paprika and cumin. Eat standing-ish, tearing bread, with hot mint tea — that's how Rabat does it.