Turkish White Bean Salad — Piyaz

US cup = 240 ml · tablespoon = 15 ml · teaspoon = 5 ml. Cup and weight conversions are approximate. Australian cooks: use a 15 ml measuring tablespoon.

Ingredient quantities and servings are scaled. Cooking times, pan sizes, frying oil depth, and temperatures stay the same; cook larger batches as needed.

Ingredients

• 1.33 cups (250 g) small dried white beans, such as navy beans, picked over and rinsed
• 8.33 cups (2000 ml) cold water, for soaking and cooking, plus more as needed
• 5.3 oz (150 g) red onion, halved and very thinly sliced
• 1.25 tsp (8 g) fine sea salt, divided
• 10.6 oz (300 g) ripe tomatoes, seeded if very juicy and diced
• 0.7 oz (20 g) flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
• 2 large large eggs
• 0.33 cup (60 g) pitted black or green olives, halved
• 3 tbsp (45 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp (30 ml) fresh lemon juice
• 1 tbsp (15 ml) grape vinegar or red wine vinegar
• 1.5 tsp (3 g) ground sumac
• 0.25 tsp (0.5 g) freshly ground black pepper

How to make Piyaz

1. Soak the beans

   Put the beans in a large bowl, cover with at least three times their volume of cold water and soak for 8–12 hours. Drain and rinse; discard the soaking water.

2. Cook until creamy but intact

   Transfer the soaked beans to a saucepan and cover with fresh water by about 5 cm (2 inches). Bring to a boil, skim any foam, then simmer gently and partially covered for 45–60 minutes. Begin checking at 40 minutes. Add 1/2 teaspoon of the salt for the final 10 minutes. Drain when the centers are creamy but the beans still hold their shape, then let them cool for 10 minutes.

3. Soften the onion

   While the beans cook, put the sliced onion in a bowl with 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. Rub gently for about 1 minute, rest for 5 minutes, then rinse briefly under cold water and squeeze dry without crushing the slices.

4. Boil the eggs and prepare the vegetables

   Lower the eggs into simmering water and cook for 10 minutes. Transfer them to cold water, peel and quarter. Wash and dry the tomatoes and parsley, then dice the tomatoes, chop the parsley and halve the olives.

5. Mix the dressing

   Whisk the olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, sumac, black pepper and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt until combined. Taste: it should be distinctly tangy because the beans will soften the acidity.

6. Dress, rest and serve

   Gently toss the slightly warm beans with half the dressing and rest for 5 minutes. Fold in the onion, tomatoes, parsley and olives with the remaining dressing. Rest for 10 minutes, adjust salt or lemon if needed, then arrange the egg quarters on top and serve.

Recipe from MyTurkishRecipes · https://myturkishrecipes.com/turkish-white-bean-salad-piyaz. Quantities reflect your selected serving scale. Cooking times are estimates; follow the doneness cues.