Fattéh With Yoghurt and Pine Nuts

Category: Cocktails & Appetizers | Blog URL: http://www.eatwritethink.com/2008/06/fatteh-with-yoghurt-and-pine-nuts/

This recipe was entered in The Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook contest, a compilation of the world’s best food blogs which was published in Fall 2010.

Photo: Rajani

Ingredients

1 cup +½ thick yogurt

1 cup dried chickpeas

1 teaspoon cumin powder

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 khuboos or pita bread, shredded

Salt to taste

2 tablespoons pine nuts

3 tablespoons olive oil, extra

1 teaspoon chilly powder

Preparation

Soak chickpeas for 8 hours or overnight and cook until soft. Drain and keep aside, reserving the stock.

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a saucepan and fry the shredded bread until crispy. Keep aside.

In the same pan toast the pine nuts, and keep aside.

Add salt and cumin powder to the yogurt and give the mixture a good whisk. If the yogurt is too thick, dilute using the reserved chickpea stock.

Add the chickpeas, give a final mix, and keep aside.

To assemble: Line the bottom of a ceramic bowl with the fried pita or khuboos.

Pour the chickpea yogurt mixture.

Garnish with a sprinkle of chilly powder, toasted pine nuts and a drizzle of olive oil.

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About

Today’s recipe is a dish called Fattéh (with yoghurt and pine nuts). At the very outset let me tell you dining out in UAE’s many Arabic/Lebanese joints is not a very bright prospect for vegetarians. First of all the very idea of being a vegetarian is baulked upon! However having said that, let me also add, that vegetarians also get to eat (according to me) the tastiest part of Arabic cuisine – the salads and starters.

No Arabic meal is complete without lavish portions of greens. The non vegetarians so drooly over their approaching kababs and meat platters often forget about these yummy bunches of flavour. That’s where I strike! The greens along with khubus and a drizzle of olive oil makes for a great, fresh nibble.

Other than that some of my favorites are Manakish (a bread with cheese stuffing), Saj (an open bread with different toppings), Fattéh with yoghurt and pine, hummus, babaganoush, lentil soup (I so love lentil soup with a dash of lemon juice), Fattoush (a crispy salad), labneh and zaatar, yummy stuffed Fatayer, sticky rice, there are loads more. But here’s where I stop for now!