This easy recipe is all about how to make lupini beans, turmus in Arabic. These crunchy beans are a delicious healthy snack, that is high in protein and fiber, and low in fat.
Lupini or lupin beans are a type of legume that is enjoyed as a snack, often found with street vendors in Palestine, similar to hamleh (roasted green chickpeas).
I grew up munching on those beans or serve them as part of mezze. They are often paired with beer or arak (arak is an Arabic alcohol drink with a licorice taste).
In addition, lupini beans are considered low carb, and high in fiber, they're also a great source of protein and are known to lower the cholesterol in the body and clean blood vessels. They are packed with antioxidants and can help prevent inflammation.
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What Are Lupini Beans?
Lupini beans are the seeds of the lupin plant, which belongs to the Lupinus genus, and these beans are commonly consumed in many Middle Eastern countries, and also popular in Italy, Portugal, and Greece.
Lupini beans (sometimes called lupins, lupine beans, or lupin beans) are part of the legume family. They have been popular in the Mediterranean region, as well as in Latin America, and North Africa since ancient times. They have a nutty flavor similar to chickpeas or fava beans.
In North Africa and the Middle East, the tradition of eating cooked lupines, well salted, has never quite died out. If you’re already in the Middle East, you can buy some pre-cooked lupines in an open-air market.
Lupini beans are large, flat, oval-shaped seeds with a yellow or white color. They have thick, tough skin and a rich, starchy interior. The beans are typically harvested when fully matured and then prepared for consumption.
As you can see, in their dry form (right), the seeds are very pale in color, circular, and quite flat. Once the lupini have been reconstituted (left), they become plump with a deep yellowish color.
However, it's important to note that lupini beans contain bitter alkaloids, that give them a bitter taste. Therefore, lupini beans need to undergo a lengthy water soaking to remove the bitterness and make them safe to eat.
Traditional preparation involves soaking the dried lupini beans in water overnight, then the beans are typically boiled until tender, then soaked again in water for several days, while changing the water frequently to remove the bitter compounds. This process helps leach out the alkaloids and reduce the bitterness.
Then when ready to serve rinse the water and season with salt.
Once prepared, lupini beans have a firm texture and a slightly nutty flavor. They are often consumed as a snack, similar to nuts.
It's worth noting that lupini beans have a unique taste and texture compared to other common beans and legumes. They are not as widely known or consumed globally but have a long history of culinary use in Mediterranean cuisine.
Equipment
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Large Bowl - For soaking dry lupini beans.
Pressure Cooker - To cook the lupini beans.
Ingredients
- Dry Lupini Beans - This can be found at any of the Middle Eastern grocery stores.
- Sea Salt - to sprinkle over the beans.
Instructions
Full ingredients, measurements, and instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step 1 | In a large bowl place dry lupini beans and cover with enough water.
Step 2 | Soak overnight or up to 24 hours.
Step 3 | Drain and rinse water, place them in a pressure cooker, and cover with fresh water until submerged. Seal the lid and cook over medium-high heat.
Step 4 | Drain, and rinse the cooked beans, and replace with fresh tap water. Then place them in a large container and refrigerate.
Step 5 | Continue the process of draining, rinsing, and refilling with fresh tap water once or twice a day.
How To Eat Lupini Beans?
Bite a small hole in the outer shell, and then slip the softer portion of the lupini bean out of the skin for eating. At first taste, the texture feels like a cross between a bean and a nut.
People enjoy snacking on lupini similar to snacking on any nuts or popcorn.
Storage
- Once all trace of bitterness has been removed, place the lupini beans in a large glass bowl or mason jars and fill it with tap water, add salt (about 1 teaspoon of sea salt for the whole batch), and keep them in the fridge.
- Lupini beans can be stored in the fridge for about 2-4 weeks. At this point, it is no longer necessary to rinse the lupini beans.
Pro Tips
- If not using a pressure cooker keep the beans to boil on medium-low heat up to 60 minutes
- What we are looking for is a crunchy and tender lupini and not soft and mushy.
- Remember that the best way to eat these is to peel off the outer skin. You can technically eat the skin, but most people prefer not to. Use your teeth to tear a small hole in the outer layer, and the skin will slip right off!
- You can add a squeeze of lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, or some ground cumin over lupini beans before serving.
- Lupini beans are poisonous prior to soaking!! So don’t eat them before the soaking process is complete.
FAQ
Yes, while most beans, and lupinis are keto-friendly if you control the portion size. Since they have just 3.8 grams of total carbs and 1.1 grams of fiber, the net carbs in lupini beans are low — just 2.7 grams net carbs per ¼ cup serving.
Lupines are rich in essential minerals, iron, calcium, and incomplete protein. They are gluten-free.
Yes, you can buy brine lupini beans in a glass jar often found at any Middle Eastern grocery store.
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How to Make Lupini Beans (Turmus)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Method: Stove and Refigerator
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Description
This easy recipe is all about how to make lupini beans, turmus in Arabic. These crunchy beans are a delicious healthy snack, that is high in protein and fiber, and low in fat.
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried lupini beans
- 5+ tap water
- 1 -2 tablespoons of sea salt
Instructions
- Soak dried lupini beans overnight and cover with enough water.
- Place lupini in a pressure cooker and cover with enough water until submerged, seal the lid and cook over medium-high heat. Once you hear the whistle of the pressure cooker it is an indication that it started boiling, set the timer for 5-7 minutes. Then turn it off and set it aside.
- Once the pressure cooker cooled off, open the lid, rinse the water, soak lupini beans in fresh tap water and keep it in the fridge.
- Drain, rinse, and refill with fresh tap water once a day. If possible, aim for at least twice a day. The lupini beans are ready when they no longer have that bitter aftertaste; you can start to taste them after 5-7 days of changing the water. What we are looking for is a crunchy tender lupini with no bitter taste.
- For storage, add 1 teaspoon of salt for the whole batch over lupini beans in water and keep in the fridge, they can last 2-4 weeks. At this point there is no need to continue to change the water.
Notes
- If not using a pressure cooker keep the beans to boil on medium-low heat up to 60 minutes
- What we are looking for is a crunchy and tender lupini and not soft and mushy.
- Remember that the best way to eat these is to peel off the outer skin. You can technically eat the skin, but most people prefer not to. Use your teeth to tear a small hole in the outer layer, and the skin will slip right off!
- You can add a squeeze of lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, or some ground cumin over lupini beans before serving.
- Lupini beans are poisonous prior to soaking!! So don’t eat them before the soaking process is complete.
Jeff says
Such a great recipe, thank you for the detailed instructions.
Wafa Shami says
Glad you liked it. You're welcome!
Rola Karam says
Best snack!
Wafa Shami says
Yes it is -:)
Ryan says
I love lupins! They're a common crop in Australia, where we've developed a sweet variety that has none of the bitter alkaloids, so don't require extended soaking and rinsing before human consumption.
Tragically, they're mostly used for stock feed here, but I make sure to save a few bags for our own use. 🙂
Wafa Shami says
That's great to hear. I believe what's in the market also here right now is a sweeter version than the old crop which was much bitter and required a longer time soaking.
Mikell says
Thank you for the very detailed instructions! I am a big fan of using dried beans versus canned, but was having a hard time finding instructions for turmus specifically. I soaked them for about 7 hours and boiled them in a regular pot on the stove for almost 2 hours, adding hot water occasionally as needed. I did rinse them once after the cooled down. We were able to eat them right away as they didn't have an aftertaste. Delicious!
Wafa Shami says
Hi Mikell, that's awesome! Glad to hear you found my recipe helpful.
George Mallouk says
I made this about two years ago and I followed all the steps and it came out just like the Lupini beans I used to buy from street vendors in Egypt while growing up
The minor modifications i made was that I soaked the beans initially for 36 hours (changing the water 3 or 4 times) . I also boiled them for 2 hours and i changed the hot water once after one hour ( so I had a 2 pots of boiling water, one had the beans and the second was used to change the first pot)
Super good food
Wafa Shami says
Hi George, good to hear and thanks for sharing all the extra tips.