Fattah with Chickpeas
Serves - 4-6 / Prep Time- 10 mins / Cook - 30 mins
Ingredients
5 wholemeal pittas
500g yogurt (I use coconut & soya)
2 cloves garlic
2 cans chickpeas
100g nuts (I use pine nuts and cashews)
1/2 cup olive oil
Handful parsley
pomegranate seeds
salt & pepper
Method
Tear the pitta bread into bite size pieces (about and inch wide)
Drizzle with olive oil, toss, and bake at 200ºC Fan/ 220ºC/Gas Mark 5, for 10 mins, or until golden
Rinse the chickpeas and cook on a medium heat, with a little water, for 10-15 mins
Whilst the bread is in the oven and the chickpeas are heating, add the garlic cloves (pressed) and 3/4 Tbsp salt to the yogurt and give it a good mix
Add the nuts to a pan with 1/3 cup olive oil and cook until golden (takes about 10 mins, but careful not to burnt them!) then transfer to a bowl
Once the chickpeas are cooked, drain the excess water, then sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste and mix
Time to layer! In a large serving dish, put a layer of chickpeas, then bread, then yogurt, then repeat once/twice (depending on the size of your dish) in that order
Pour over the nuts with the oil, then sprinkle with chopped parsley and pomegranate seeds
Enjoy!
Fattah/ Fatteh is the perfect dish for sharing, especially through the summer, when outdoor feasts and good company are enjoyed. It's is a common dish throughout the Arab world, not this specific one, but it essentially means a dish that has a bread base, torn bread at that. It has different names and components wherever you go, but it's always a perfect mish-mash of things teamed with torn bread, whether it be toasted or soft. There's always one thing they have in common, they're eaten together, dived into by whomever you're serving and devoured because they're always delicious. Fattah is always food for an occasion.
This recipe is a take on a Lebanese fattah (I spell it fattah not fatteh because that's now we say it in my house and I can't bring myself to do otherwise). It's got chickpeas, crunchy toasted bread and the most luxurious yogurt sauce, topped with little pomegranate rubies, the true crowning glory.
