Fattet hummus

With everyone home during the summer vacation, I always find that we make more of an effort to make breakfast special and what better way than to try some great Middle Eastern dishes? This is what inspired my breakfast series, 6 videos with 6 dishes, to give you a taste of the Middle East first thing in the morning.

Our first dish is one that is near and dear to my heart, fattet hummus. We all know by now that everyone in the Middle East has their own way of making classic dishes, and this is definitely a matter of personal taste; from the amount of bread you use, whether you blend your chickpeas or keep them whole, and even whether you like to add chilli to yours or not. Today I’ll be showing you my personal favourite way to have fattet hummus.

Like fattet jaj, fattet baitenjan, or any other fatteh, fattet hummus is a dish with a bread base, which can be topped with any mixture of ingredients, depending on the type of fatteh. Fatteh is very popular across the Levant and there are so many kinds!

To make this dish you need the start, hummus, which is not only what we call the chickpea dip, but also what we call chickpeas themselves. You can use canned, jarred, or dried chickpeas but, of course, when using dry chickpeas, you need to soak them overnight and boil them. I like to use the jarred or canned chickpeas, because it is faster, especially when I decide to make this on the spot, and I like their creamy texture. When heating the chickpeas in their own water or the water they were boiled in, if using dry chickpeas, I add cumin to the water, as it not only flavours the water, which we will use, but also helps with digesting this dish.

While the dish has a few components, they are all super easy to whip up and can be done while your chickpeas are being heated. For the bread, it can either be fried, baked in the oven, or even soft. I prefer crispy bread to add texture to the dish. The opinion is divided on this, as some prefer their bread completely soaked and others prefer theirs to have some crunch left in it; I am a fan of the latter. I definitely like my bread to have a good amount of crunch! This is determined by how much of the chickpea water you use when pouring the chickpeas over the bread.

It is not very traditional to add chillies to the dressing, but I love having a little kick to contrast the creaminess of the chickpeas, yoghurt and tahini paste. The tanginess of the lemon also works great to cut through the creaminess, too. Once you have all the components ready, it is just a matter of layering everything and then enjoying it. This is best eaten as soon as you make it, and you can either make it in a big serving dish, or in individual bowls. If you like hummus, you’ll definitely love this dish; it is like having a bowl of bread dipped in hummus. What’s not to love!

Ingredients 

Chickpeas 

800 g chickpeas (canned or soaked and cooked)

2 tsp cumin

Dressing 

4-6 garlic cloves (to taste)

Fresh chillies (optional)

Salt

½ cup lemon juice

Yogurt 

500 g natural yoghurt

¼ cup tahini paste (or to taste)

1 tbsp lemon juice

Salt

2 tbsp of the dressing

Fried pitta bread

Pine nuts fried in olive oil to garnish

Chopped parsley to garnish

Instructions

1. To make the chickpeas, pour the chickpeas and the water they come in if using the canned version, or use the water you boiled the chickpeas in if you are using dry chickpeas, into a pot. Add the cumin and heat on medium heat until it comes to the boil and warms through.
2. While the chickpeas are cooking, make the dressing. In a pestle and mortar, mash the garlic with a pinch of salt, then add the fresh chillies if you are using. Then add the lemon juice and mix. Set aside.
3. To make the yoghurt layer, mix the yoghurt, tahini paste, lemon juice, salt and some of the dressing you made. Mix well and taste. Adjust to your liking.
4. To assemble, line the bottom of your serving dish with fried pitta bread; then add the chickpeas. Make sure to spread them evenly and ladle in some of its water. Reserve some chickpeas for garnishing. If you like the bread to get soft, add more water; if you want a crunch, add less. Next, add the yoghurt mixture, making sure to pour it evenly over the chickpeas and spread it well.
5. Garnish with the reserved chickpeas and spoon the dressing over the top.
6. In a small pan, heat some olive oil, butter or ghee and brown the pine nuts. Once they are browned, pour evenly over the top of the yoghurt. Garnish with chopped parsley and enjoy.

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