Fattet hummus (Levantine chickpea savoury bread pudding) – Chef in disguise

One of the things that I missed dearly when I was an expat is this hummus fatteh!
Fattet hummus or hummus fatteh is a creamy, nutty , savoury chickpea bread pudding. In the Levant (Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon) it is a popular weekend breakfast/brunch item.
You can enjoy this warm on a cold morning or cold out of the fridge on a hot summer day.

It is usually served alongside hummus, falafel , foul and lots of sage or mint infused tea.

What is Fatteh?

In the Arabic cuisine, fatteh is actually a whole genera of savoury recipes, the word fatteh means that which has been torn apart or broken into pieces and when recipes are concerned, it means a recipe based on bread that has been torn apart then mixed with a sauce of some sort.

The use of bread adds texture, bulk and when the bread absorbs the sauce it soaks up all the flavors and transforms into a heavenly, fluffy, melt in your mouth concoction that you just have to try to understand!

Apart from the bread, different fatteh recipes feature, different ingredients ranging from rice to soups, stews, vegetables , meat or chicken or a combination of the above.Fatteh can be vegetarian (like this fatteh I am sharing with you today) or it can feature, meat, chicken or seafood. It can be a breakfast item, appetizer or even a main dish.

No matter what ingredients you use or what course you prepare it for. The thing I love the most about fatteh is how forgiving it is as a recipe. You can add more bread, less bread, more sauce, less sauce, more spices, less spices. It will work out fine, you really can’t mess this up. It is also a great way to use up leftovers. If say you have some lentil soup left from yesterday’s dinner, you can turn it into lentil soup fatteh, serve it with pickled olives, green onions and herbs and now you have a complete meal out of some bread and a cup or two of soup.

So how about starting your fatteh adventure with hummus fatteh and giving this a go over the weekend?

Hummus fatteh (Tisikieh with Badwah)

Start by making Musabaha:

– 1 cup chickpeas, fully cooked
– 1/4 cup of the water you used to cook the chickpea
– 1/4 cup lemon juice
– 1/4 cup Tahini sauce
– 1/2 teaspoon salt
– 3 ice cubes

To prepare the musabaha:
– Using a food processor, blend chickpeas, cooking water and lemon juice until smooth.
– Add the tahini sauce, salt and ice cubes and blend till smooth. If the mix is too thick you can add 2-3 Tablespoons of water.
You can make musabaha ahead of time and refrigerate it for up to 2-3 days.

To assemble Fattet hummus ..Tisikieh with Badwah
Ingredients: –
2 1/2 cups of Jerusalem kaek, cubed (see notes for substitustions)
– 2 cups cooked chickpeas
-Half a cup of the hummus cooking liquid
– 1 1/2 cup of Musabaha (recipe above)
– 1 cup of yogurt
– 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
– 1/4 cup lemon juice
– 1 teaspoon salt

For the decoration
– 1 1/2 Tablespoon ghee or olive oil
– Nuts (usually sliced or slivered almonds & pine nuts)
Parsley leaves
Cumin
Paprika

To prepare the fatteh:
– Place bread cubes in a bowl .
– Add the chickpea cooking water to the bread cubes, mix and set aside for 10 minutes to allow the bread to soak it up
– Add the chickpeas to the bread
– Mix the musabaha with yogurt, garlic, lemon juice and salt . This mix is called (Badwah). Make sure to mix it very well.
– Add 2/3 of the prepared Badwah to the bread and mix well.
Transfer the mix to your serving dish and level it.
– top the mix with the rest of Badwah
– Garnish with chickpeas, spices and parsley.
– Heat the ghee in a pan and fry the nuts till golden.
– Top the fatteh with the nuts and ghee right before serving

Notes

Canned or home cooked chickpeas?
It is preferable if you cook your own hummus for this recipe but it will still work with canned chickpeas. You will need to cook your canned chickpeas in the canning liquid for 10 minutes to soften them up and make sure to reserve the liquid to use in the recipe too.

If you decide on taking your fatteh adventure to the next level by cooking your own hummus, trust me, you won’t regret it! and believe me, it is super easy. You will find the detailed step by step instructions here.

Jerusalem bagels or pita bread?
Different parts of Palestine use different types of bread for this recipe.
I personally find that Jerusalem bagels or kaek bil simsim gives the best results because I like my fatteh on the creamy side.

If you are a fan of crunchy stuff, then you can use pita bread, fry it ahead of time, and use it to make your fatteh. The frying adds richness to the fatteh and prevents the bread from becoming too soft. This is actually the way they do it in the city of Nablus in Palestine

 -التسقية بسمنة (تسقية بالبدوة)
اولا نقوم بتحضير المسبحة
المسبحة:
كوب حمص مسلوق جيدا
١/٤ كوب من ماء سلق الحمص
١/٤ كوب عصير ليمونة
١/٤ كوب طحينة
١/٢ ملعقة صغيرة ملح
٣ مكعبات ثلج
طريقة المسبحة:
١- نضع في الخلاط أو محضرة الطعام كوب من الحمص الحب المسلوق مع ١/٤ كوب ماء سلق الحمص وعصير الليمون ونخلط جيدا.
٢- نضيف ١/٤ كوب من الطحينة والملح و 3 مكعبات من الثلج ونخلط جيدا (اذا كانت متماسكة اكثر مما يجب نضيف ملعقتين الى ثلاثة من الماء) ثم توضع في الثلاجة *تبقى صالحة من ٢-٣ ايام في الثلاجة.
ثم نبدأ بتحضير التسقية (الفتة)
المقادير : –
٢ و ١/٢ كوب خبز عربي او كعك القدس(تقريبا نحسب لكل شخص كوب خبز مقطع مربعات) – ٢ كوب حمص مسلوق
نصف كوب من ماء سلق الحمص
كوب و نصف مسبحة
١ كوب لبن زبادي
١ ملعقة صغيرة ثوم مدقوق
١/٤ كوب عصير ليمون
١ ملعقة صغيرة ملح
للتزيين
١ و ١/٢ ملعقة طعام سمنة
لوز أو صنوبر
بقدونس
كمون
المسبحة :
الطريقة:
١- نقطّع الخبز لقطع صغيرة .
٢- اذا استخدمتم الحمص المعلب، قوموا بغليه من ربع الى نصف ساعة ليصبح طريا اما اذا قمتم بسلق الحمص المجفف بأنفسكم فزيدوا وقت السلق ليصبح طريا
٣- نجهز(البدوة)وهي عبارة عن اضافة المسبحة واللبن الزبادي والثوم وعصير الليمون والملح ونحرك.
٤- نضيف نصف كوب من مرقة الحمص فوق الخبز لكي يصبح الخبز طريا.
٥. نضيف الحمص المسلوق المصفى من ماء السلق.
٦. نضيف لمزيج الخبز ثلثي (البدوة) ونحرك
٧. نرتب خليط الخبز و البدوة في صحن التقديم ثم نقوم بتوزيع الثلث الباقي من البدوة على الوجه
٨. نضيف السمنه في مقلاة على النار مع اللوز اوالصنوبر و نقلي اللوز او الصنوبر حتى يصبح ذهبي اللون (يمكن الاستغناء عنهم في حال عدم توفرهم) .. نزين الوجه باللوز المقلي و البقدونس و الكمون و البابريكا او الفلفل المطحون