chickpeas with yoghurt
Chickpeas with yoghurt, or fattet hummus in Lebanese, is a dish often eaten at breakfast time. It’s quick and nutritious, popular throughout Lebanon and Syria. Fatteh refers to the broken pieces of bread which are scattered on the dish just before serving. There are other versions of this recipe which are made with chicken and aubergine. But this one is in its simplest form. Except for the drizzle of pomegranate molasses which Claudia Roden suggests in her version from The Med.
Not a dish that will sit around though. You can get ahead by boiling the chickpeas (a pressure cooker would speed up the cooking time) or buying a jar. The yoghurt can be mixed with the garlic and left to infuse, while you wait for the chickpeas. If you can’t find Lebanese flat bread, which pull apart nicely so you have 2 thin flat circles, a pitta bread will do. Lebanese pine nuts are hard to find, but the long Pakistani ones, nicer than the Chinese ones, are likely to be found in Kurdish shops. Just before you serve, scatter the bread and the pine nuts over the top – soggy bread is to be avoided at all costs!
Zejd’s pomegranate molasses drizzled over the warm yoghurt and soft chickpeas, with the crunchy bread, adds just a touch of acidity to counter balance the creamy yoghurt.
serves 4-6
ingredients
150g chickpeas, soaked overnight in water with 1 tsp of bicarbonate of soda or 700g of chickpeas, drained.
900g Greek style yoghurt, room temperature
2 garlic cloves, crushed with a little salt
50g pine nuts
1 tbsp Zejd extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp Zejd’s pomegranate molasses
1 tbsp parsley, chopped (optional)
salt to taste
1 Lebanese flat bread, pulled apart to give 2 thin circles, or a pitta brea
method
- Drain the soaked chickpeas and put in a pan with enough freshwater to cover the chickpeas by about 1cm, and 1/4 tsp of bicarbonate of soda, to help them soften. Bring to the boil, skim the foam then cover and simmer for around 30 minutes until they are soft enough to squash a bit, but not collapsing. Make sure the water doesn’t disappear, adding a little extra if needed. Add a touch of salt.
- Mix the yoghurt with the garlic. Set aside.
- Gently toast the pine nuts in a small frying pan with a little butter and oil, you don’t want them to burn just colour.
- In an oven at 180 degrees, heat the bread until brown and crispy. Remove before it’s too brown.
- Remove the chickpeas from their water, and put in a serving dish. While warm, pour over the yoghurt mixture.
- Drizzle over a little of Zejd’s extra virgin olive oil, break up the crispy bread and scatter with the pine nuts over the top of the yoghurt. Drizzle the pomegranate molasses and the parsley if using.
Serve immediately, adding more crunchy bread and oil as you eat if you wish!