Chickpea Fatteh (Fattet Hummus)

What is Chickpea Fatteh?

Chickpea fatteh is a layered Middle Eastern dish made with toasted flatbread, warm chickpeas, and a garlicky yoghurt sauce (or a hummus-based sauce), often with tahini and nuts on top. In Arabic, you’ll also see it called fattet hummus.

In some Syrian and Damascene renderings, you may also come across the names tisikieh or tisiyeh, while the creamy topping itself may be referred to as badwah. Spellings wander about a bit in English, as they often do with Arabic food names, but the dish is recognisably part of the same broad family.

At its heart, fatteh is less a single rigid recipe and more a format. Bread forms the base, something warm goes over it, something creamy or saucy follows, and then you finish with a garnish that gives it sparkle and crunch. Once you understand that structure, the whole thing starts making perfect sense.

The Recipe

This chickpea fatteh recipe keeps to the classic structure that makes the dish so good: crisp pita underneath, warm chickpeas over that, then a cool yoghurt and tahini sauce, finished with nuts and herbs. Some cooks enrich that sauce with musabaha, a warm chickpea-and-tahini mixture that sits somewhere between whole chickpeas and hummus.

Others keep the badwah lighter and let the whole chickpeas provide the body instead. Both approaches exist, and both are very much at home in the wider fattet hummus tradition. I’ve gone with the yoghurt-and-tahini route here because I like the contrast it gives: creamy, yes, but not too thick.

Ingredients

Chickpeas
These are the heart of the dish, so they need to be warm and seasoned properly. Tinned chickpeas are absolutely fine, but simmer them briefly with a little water or stock so they have a little character.

Pita or other flatbread
This gives chickpea fatteh its essential crunch. Toasted or fried pita is traditional for many home versions, and it’s what creates that excellent contrast between crisp bread and creamy sauce. Day-old pita is particularly useful here, which feels very much in the spirit of the dish. I tend to use whatever flatbread I happen to have.

Yoghurt and tahini
Together, these make the creamy topping for the dish, often sharpened with garlic and lemon. In some homes, this sauce stays just that: yoghurt, tahini, garlic, lemon and seasoning. In other versions, cooks enrich it with musabaha, or refer to the sauce itself as badwah.

That variation is part of the point.

Garlic
Essential. Chickpea fatteh without garlic would feel a bit underdressed.

Lemon juice
Just enough to brighten the yoghurt and stop the whole thing feeling too heavy.

Nuts
Pine nuts are the classic flourish, but almonds work too. They bring richness and a final bit of crunch.

Parsley
Fresh herbs help lift the dish and stop all that creamy, nutty richness from becoming overly serious. You could also use mint.

Butter, ghee or olive oil
A warm drizzle over the nuts gives the finished dish a little extra glamour.

How to Serve

Serve chickpea fatteh as soon as you assemble it. That’s when it’s at its best: the bread still crisp at the edges, the chickpeas warm, the yoghurt cool, the nuts toasty and fragrant.

It works beautifully as a brunch dish, a light supper, or part of a larger Middle Eastern spread. I’d happily put it on the table with chopped salad, cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, pickles or a sharp little chilli sauce.

And yes, eat it with a spoon. This is not the time to insist on elegance.

As you can see, I reserve a few of the bread crisps to tuck at the edges of the finished dish. This way, I have crispy bread a little longer, as what’s in the bottom layer will start to soften.

How to Store Leftovers

Assembled chickpea fatteh doesn’t keep especially well, because the whole point is the contrast between crisp bread and creamy topping. Once it sits too long, that contrast starts wandering off.

If you want to get ahead, store the components separately instead. Keep the toasted pita in an airtight container at room temperature, and the chickpeas for up to 3 days and reheated before serving.

The yoghurt sauce will also keep in the fridge for 3 days. Stir it before using. Then all you need to do is assemble everything at the last minute and serve.

Variations

I’ll be doing a meat and eggplant version soon, just look out for them in the coming weeks.

A meat version
Top the chickpea fatteh with spiced minced lamb or beef, or little pieces of fried meat, for a richer and more substantial version.

An aubergine (eggplant) version
Swap some or all of the chickpeas for fried or roasted aubergine. This is one of the most popular fatteh variations for very good reason. I love this, coming soon!

A more buttery finish
Warm a little butter or ghee with pine nuts and a pinch of paprika or Aleppo pepper, then spoon it over the top just before serving.

A vegan version
Use a thick unsweetened plant yoghurt and make sure your bread and toppings are vegan. The structure still works beautifully.

A sharper finish
Pomegranate seeds or a squeeze of extra lemon can lift the whole thing if you want more brightness.

FAQs About Chickpea Fatteh

Chickpea fatteh is the sort of dish that reminds you not every excellent meal starts with grand plans.

Sometimes it starts with leftover bread, a tin of chickpeas, and the sense to add garlic, yoghurt and a few good toppings. And really, once lunch tastes this good, nobody gets to call it “just using things up”.

Make it, and tag me on socials with a picture!

Lin xx

For the yoghurt sauce / badwah

Toast the pita

• Preheat the oven to 180°C fan / 200°C conventional / 400°F.

• Tear or cut the flaybread/pita into bite-sized pieces.

  3 large Middle Eastern style flatbreads

• Toss with the olive oil and a small pinch of salt.

  2 Tbsp olive oil, pinch salt

• Spread on a baking tray in a single layer and bake for 15 – 20 minutes, turning once halfway, until crisp and golden. You may need longer, go by sight, not time. Set aside.If you use a deep (instead of shallow like me in the video), you can just flip the bread halfway.

Warm the chickpeas and toast the pine nuts

• Place the chickpeas, water, cumin, salt and black pepper in a saucepan over medium heat.

  800 g canned chickpeas, 125 ml water, 1 tsp ground cumin, ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp black pepper

• Simmer for 5 minutes, until hot and lightly seasoned. There should still be a little liquid left in the pan. Set aside.

• Dry toast the nuts for 2 minutes on medium-low heat. Tip them out onto a saucer, otherwise, they’ll keep toasting in the hot pan even after the heat is off, and will burn.

  3 Tbsp pine nuts or flaked almonds

Make the yoghurt sauce

• In a bowl, mix the yoghurt, tahini, garlic, lemon juice and salt. It should be thick, but easy to spread.

  500 g full-fat Greek yoghurt or thick natural yoghurt, 4 Tbsp tahini, 3 medium garlic cloves, 2 Tbsp lemon juice, ¼ tsp salt

• Taste and adjust the seasoning, lemon or garlic as needed.

Assemble the chickpea fatteh

• Arrange the toasted pita on a serving dish or shallow bowl, leaving aside a handful to “tuck in” after assembly.

• Spoon the warm chickpeas over the bread, along with a little of their cooking liquid.

• Spread the yoghurt sauce over the top.

• Heat the butter, ghee or olive oil in a small frying pan over medium heat and immediately pour it all over the yoghurt sauce.

  2 Tbsp salted butter

• Finish with the toasted nuts, chopped parsley and paprika/Aleppo pepper if using.Serve immediately.

  small handful parsley, ¼ tsp paprika or Aleppo pepper

Make Ahead

• Toasted pita: store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day

• Chickpeas: refrigerate for up to 3 days

• Yoghurt sauce: refrigerate for 2 to 3 days

• Assemble just before serving.

Calories: 315kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 668mg | Potassium: 338mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 176IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 146mg | Iron: 2mg

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