How to Make Fattet Hummus (Lebanese Chickpea Fatteh)

Fatteh comes from the Arabic word for breaking or crumbling, and that is the base of the dish: pieces of toasted or fried pita. Fattet hummus layers that bread with warm chickpeas and their cooking broth, then a cool sauce of yogurt, tahini and garlic, and finally pine nuts fried in butter that crackle as they hit the yogurt.

In Lebanon it is a weekend breakfast, often bought from the same shops that sell foul and msabbaha, and many families make it for suhoor during Ramadan. The pleasure is in the contrasts: hot and cold, crisp and soft, rich and tangy. It has to be assembled at the last minute, so have everything ready before you start.

Ingredients

For the chickpeas

• 2 cans (400 g / 15 oz each) chickpeas, or 200 g (1 cup) dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and cooked
• 250 ml (1 cup) water or chickpea cooking liquid
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

For the bread

• 2 large Lebanese pita loaves (about 200 g / 7 oz)
• 3 tablespoons (45 ml) olive oil, or sunflower oil for frying

For the yogurt sauce

• 500 g (2 cups) plain full-fat yogurt, at room temperature
• 60 ml (1/4 cup) tahini
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) lemon juice
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed with 1/2 teaspoon salt

To finish

• 40 g (3 tablespoons) butter or samneh (clarified butter), or olive oil
• 40 g (1/4 cup) pine nuts
• Sweet paprika and ground cumin, for dusting
• Chopped parsley or a few mint leaves

Instructions

1. If using dried chickpeas, simmer the soaked chickpeas in fresh water for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until very tender, and keep the cooking liquid. If using canned, drain and rinse them.
2. Put the chickpeas in a saucepan with the water or cooking liquid, cumin and salt. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook for 10 minutes. Keep warm on low.
3. Split the pitas into two thin layers and cut them into 2 to 3 cm (1 inch) squares.
4. To bake the bread, toss it with the olive oil and spread it on a tray. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring once, until golden and crisp. To fry, cook it in batches in hot sunflower oil for 1 to 2 minutes until golden, then drain.
5. Whisk the yogurt, tahini, lemon juice and crushed garlic until smooth. Do not heat it: warm yogurt splits. Room temperature is right.
6. Spread the crisp bread in a wide, shallow serving dish. Ladle over about 120 ml (1/2 cup) of the hot chickpea liquid, just enough to soften the bottom layer.
7. Set aside 2 tablespoons of chickpeas. Spoon the rest over the bread with a slotted spoon.
8. Pour the yogurt sauce over the chickpeas to cover them completely. Scatter the reserved chickpeas on top.
9. Melt the butter in a small pan over medium heat. Add the pine nuts and stir for 2 to 3 minutes until golden. Watch them closely; they burn fast.
10. Pour the sizzling butter and pine nuts over the yogurt. Dust with paprika and cumin, add the parsley or mint, and serve at once.

Tips for the best fattet hummus

• Keep a few bread squares aside and scatter them on top just before serving for extra crunch.
• Do not drown the bread. A little broth is enough; too much makes it soggy.
• Take the yogurt out of the fridge 30 minutes ahead so it is cool, not cold.
• Use thick yogurt. If yours is thin, stir in 2 tablespoons of labneh.

Variations

• With meat: top with 200 g (7 oz) of minced lamb or beef fried with onion and seven spice, as in hummus with ground beef.
• With chicken: see our Lebanese chicken fatteh.
• Lighter: bake the bread and finish with olive oil instead of butter.

Lebanese producers for the key ingredients

For the yogurt, Taanayel Les Fermes in the Bekaa makes thick yogurt and labneh. For a smooth, fresh tahini, try Al Yaman Factories, a Sidon sesame house since 1882.

Frequently Asked Questions