Fattet hummus is one of different fatteh dishes in the Levantine cuisine. All these dishes are based on having fried pieces of pita bread topped with different toppings… I don’t know how exactly to translate the word “fatteh” to English but I will try to explain it. “Fatteh” is dialect Arabic word comes from the verb “fa-tta” that means to crumble bread into small pieces. It is mostly used as a name of these type of dishes.

Fattet hummus (also called “tis-iyeh” as in Syria) is typically served as breakfast, mostly on Friday’s breakfasts. Also it’s served as a side dish in occasional dinners.

There are many recipes of fattet hummus, but I’m going to share with you the best of them all.  It consists of four  layers: Fried pita bread, Tahini sauce, tahini paste (hummus dip) and topping of pine nuts, olive oil, parsley and cumin.

Ingredients

  • 500 grams chickpeas, dried (soaked in water overnight)
  • 3 small loaves of pita bread, cut into bite-sized squares
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil (optional)
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 tablespoon cumin, divided
  • 3/4 cup tahini paste, divided
  • 1.5 lemon, squeezed , divided
  • 4 tablespoon olive oil
  • 3 tablespoon pine nuts
  • 2 tablespoon parsley, chopped

Directions:

In a cooking pan, add soaked chickpeas and cover them completely with water. Cover the pan and place it over a medium heat for about an hour until it becomes tender and completely cooked. (Using canned chickpeas speeds up the process; it doesn't need to be soaked. All what you need to do is to cook them with water until it’s boiling.)

Meanwhile and in a different frying pan, heat vegetable oil, add pita bread pieces and deeply fry them and keep stirring for about 5 minutes or until they become brown-golden and crunchy. (Although frying pita bread is not very common in Palestinian fatteh; but it gives the best results. Palestinian way suggests using any kind of sponge bread without frying or roasting)

Place bread pieces in a large and deep serving dish (you may use more than one dish as I did here).  Add about 5 to 6 full tablespoon of cooked chickpeas along with some chickpea broth. Add small pinches of salt and cumin.

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For tahini sauce: Place one cup of cooked chickpeas in a blender. Add 1.5 cups of chickpea broth, 3/4 tablespoon cumin, salt, juice of one lemon, and 1/2 cup tahini. Blend them very well. Pour tahini sauce over fried bread.

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For hummus paste: Place remaining chickpeas in the same blender (leave very small amount for topping). Add half cup of chickpea broth, salt, 1/4 tablespoon cumin, juice of half lemon and 1/4 cup tahini and blend. Using a spoon, add the creamy paste and spread then in the serving dish.

Fry pine nuts with olive oil on a medium heat until they become golden. For topping: Add chickpeas, parsley, a pinch of cumin, and fried pine nuts along with olive oil. Serve hot.

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