Fatteh (Levantine Chickpeas with Crispy Bread, Garlic Yogurt and Pine Nuts)
فتہ (کرکری روٹی، لہسن والے دہی اور چلغوزوں کے ساتھ شامی چنے)
*Fatteh* means "crumbled", and it's a brilliant way to use up bread: pieces of pita are toasted or fried until crisp, then layered in a dish with warm chickpeas and their cooking liquid, a garlicky yogurt and sauce, and finished with pine nuts fried in butter until golden. Each spoonful is crunchy, soft, creamy, warm and cool at once. In Damascus and Beirut it's a weekend breakfast and a favourite at suhoor in Ramadan.
- ⏱ Total: 30 min
- Prep: 10 min
- Cook: 20 min
- Easy
- Serves 4
Method
Tap a step when it is done.
Toss the bread with the olive oil and bake at 200°C for 8–10 minutes until golden and crisp (or fry in oil).
Warm the chickpeas in their liquid with the cumin and a pinch of salt.
Whisk the yogurt with the tahini, garlic, lemon juice and salt until smooth.
Put the toasted bread in a serving dish, spoon over the warm chickpeas and some of their liquid, then cover with the yogurt sauce.
Fry the pine nuts in the butter until golden and pour, sizzling, over the top. Sprinkle with paprika and parsley and serve at once.
Kitchen notes
Assemble just before eating so the bread stays partly crunchy.
Fatteh is a great way to use stale bread.
For a heartier version, add shredded chicken, spiced mince or fried aubergine between the layers.
A dish built on bread
Fatteh is one of the oldest ideas in Arab cooking: stale bread made delicious by soaking it in something warm. The chickpea version (fattet hummus) is a breakfast classic in Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan, often eaten at weekends at specialist breakfast restaurants alongside ful and hummus.
Layers and contrast
The pleasure is in the contrasts: crisp toasted bread, soft warm chickpeas, a cool, garlicky yogurt and tahini sauce, and hot, buttery pine nuts poured over at the end so they sizzle. Assemble it just before serving so the bread keeps some crunch.
Variations
There are many kinds of fatteh: with aubergine (fattet makdous), with chicken, or with lamb and rice for festive meals in Syria and Egypt. The chickpea version is the quickest and the easiest place to start.
Serving
Serve straight away as breakfast or suhoor, with mint tea or Arabic coffee, olives and fresh vegetables. Pakistani readers will find it close in spirit to chana chaat and dahi bhallay.
Questions people ask
Is fatteh served hot or cold?
Warm: hot chickpeas and butter, cool yogurt, crisp bread. That contrast is the point.
Can I skip the tahini?
Yes, a garlic yogurt alone is common; tahini adds nuttiness and richness.
Nutrition (estimate, per serving)
- Calories
- 430
- Protein
- 17 g
- Fat
- 20 g
- Carbs
- 46 g
