Ingredients
Makes a medium platter to serve 4-6
- 2 cups dried chickpeas, see note
- 1/2 teaspoon bicarb
- 1.5 loaves of Lebanese pita
- 2 crushed garlic cloves
- 4 tablespoons tahini
- 1/2 -1 cup reserved chickpea water
- 500g Greek style yoghurt
- Juice of one small lemon
- Salt to taste
- 1 heaped tablespoon of ghee or butter
- 1/3 cup pine nuts
Method
- The night before you plan on making fatteh, soak the chickpeas in a bowl with cold tap water & bicarb. Allow to soak making sure the bowl is a generous size as the chickpeas will double.
- When you’re ready to make your fatteh, add drained (don’t wash) chickpeas to a pot & bring to the boil. Allow approx 1hr for them to be soft enough to squish between 2 fingers but not too soft.
If using canned chickpeas:
- Wash/drain 2 cans of chickpeas, cover with clean water bring to the boil. Simmer for approx. 30 minutes until you can squish between 2 fingers.
Prep the bread & yoghurt:
- Rip or cut the pita into bite sized pieces.
- Air fry, toast in the oven or shallow fry. Add them to a medium sized serving dish, season with a pinch of salt & set aside
- Make the yoghurt sauce by combining the crushed garlic, salt, tahini, lemon juice & yoghurt. Whisk well. Add ladles of chickpea water to reach the desired consistency, the consistency must be loose but creamy, like the consistency of thickened cream. Set aside.
To assemble
- Start toasting off your pine nuts in the ghee/butter, while that’s happening add the chickpeas using a slotted spoon to the toasted bread.
- At this stage you can add a ladle of chickpea water if preferred but my family aren’t a fan of soggy bread & prefer it crunchy.
- Pour the yoghurt mix on top, then the toasted pine nuts. Garnish with parsley & paprika. Serve immediately.
Notes:
- In Ramadan, when I know I’m making Fatteh daily, I soak a large batch (1kg) chickpeas & cook them in a large pot. Portion 3 cups worth into containers with some of their liquid & freeze. Simply take one container out to defrost every morning & reheat for dinner.
- Any other time I make Fatteh it’s always a last minute event, so you can use canned chickpeas as a substitution, a quick simmer is all that’s needed which saves you a night of soaking & hours of cooking!
