Fatteh - Chickpeas, yoghurt, garlic and stuff

I've had an amazing version of fatteh (called fatteh blahmeh) at Lebanese Taverna in DC, and I've been trying to replicate it a couple of times.

Tonight I got pretty close. May Bsisu's The Arab Table has a recipe without meat, to serve 8-10 as a side dish. I enhanced it a bit, as follows:

To serve 4:
About 1 lb boneless chicken breast
flour for dusting
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 C pine nuts
juice of 1 lemon
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 C full-fat yoghurt
3 tbs tahina
1 can chickpeas
1/2 tsp salt
2-3 loaves pita (I used 2, 3 would have been more substantial)
vegetable oil
chopped parsley, red pepper flakes, sliced radish, pomegranate seeds (I didn't have the last two, but I've had them on this dish)

1. preheat oven to 350. Tear pita into small pieces, brush or spray with oil, and put on a baking sheet in a single layer. Toast in oven about 8 minutes or until golden brown. Spread on bottom of a casserole dish.
2. Combine about 2/3 of the garlic with the lemon juice, and the rest with the tahina, salt and yoghurt (mix the latter well, tahina likes to clump)
3. Dust chicken with flour and allspice. Sautee until cooked through, then slice into 1/8"-thick pieces about 1" across. In the same pan, toast pine nuts until golden and remove from pan.
4. Rince chickpeas and put in small pan with water to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain.
5. Pour lemon/garlic over pita, top with chickpeas and chicken (roast lamb would be nice too), then yoghurt mixture, pine nuts, and then garnish with red pepper, parsley, and other stuff you like.
6. Eat quickly, before the pita gets too soggy

My kids, usually skeptical about beans and yoghurt, let alone together, devoured it (The fact that it's middle eastern helped -- Pita Inn has expanded their repertoire. Large quantities of garlic doesn't hurt either). Thing2 is thinking about springing this on his Scout patrol at a camping trip.

JoelF wrote:I've had an amazing version of fatteh (called fatteh blahmeh) at Lebanese Taverna in DC, and I've been trying to replicate it a couple of times.

Isn't blahmeh lamb?

I don't speak arabic, you are probably right.
I couldn't remember whether it was roast chicken or lamb in the one in DC, it's been a couple of years.

For a weeknight dinner, the sauteed chicken is a nice substitution. Aside from using a fairly large number of bowls and pots (pan for chicken and pine nuts, pot for chickpeas, bowls for lemon juice and yoghurt) it's a pretty easy recipe.

LAHM means meat in arabic. So, ### BLAHMEH means ### with meat or in meat. Usually, when someone says I am inviting you for LAHMEH, it means lamb or beef (not chicken, or pork).
Elie

Hey All,

I used to be a manager at Lebanese Taverna in Baltimore. Fatteh Djaje was my favorite dish!

Fatteh Blahmen was made with braised lamb shank, spiced with sumac.

Fatteh Djaje was made with chicken seasoned with allspice.

Fatteh Bathenjan was made with roasted eggplant.

The secret to making this dish is in toasting your pita chips just right. In addition, soak your chickpeas overnight, then drain before cooking. Make sure your mince parsley, garlic, and mint together then add when you are warming the yogurt. Lightly salted and sprayed with lemon juice.

Subject: Semiramis Lebanese Cuisine [Pictures]

Cathy2 wrote:I will focus on one item: the whole roasted marinated chicken served on lavosh with a garlic-potato sauce. All I could think of was Lebanese Taverna in Washington, D.C. It is as close to this a experience I have yet to come across in Chicago. Yes, the garlic sauce could be more intensely garlic, though not quite as intense as I made for Erik M's Basturma Party a few years ago.

Hi,

You're going to be sorry you mentioned you once worked for Lebanese Taverna.

Maybe you could advise how they made the garlic-potato sauce served with their roasted chicken. I once saw on Lebanese Taverna's website that they did cooking classes. I made some inquiries about this sauce, though I never got anywhere.

Regards,

AlexanderOleHardwood wrote:Hey All,
...
Fatteh Blahmen was made with braised lamb shank, spiced with sumac.
Fatteh Djaje was made with chicken seasoned with allspice.
Fatteh Bathenjan was made with roasted eggplant.

The secret to making this dish is in toasting your pita chips just right. In addition, soak your chickpeas overnight, then drain before cooking. Make sure your mince parsley, garlic, and mint together then add when you are warming the yogurt. Lightly salted and sprayed with lemon juice.

Thanks -- the seasonings are where I probably fell down. Garlic, yes, I got. Parsley, mint, sumac were not on my improv recipe. I'll have to try that again (hmm... don't have sumac, but I do have zaatar)