Tesqieh Bel-Faqseh

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

2 small onions, finely chopped

5 garlic cloves, sliced

400 g boneless lamb, diced

450 g okra, trimmed

3 tablespoons tomato paste (purée)

½ teaspoon seven 600 g dried chickpeas

Water, to soak chickpeas

1 tsp. qelo

Water, to cook chickpeas

1 1/4 tsp. qelo (white powder) you can substitute with baking soda (each one teaspoon of Qelo equal to two teaspoons of baking soda)

3 loaves (each 100 g) Arabic

Flat bread

1/3 cup finely chopped flat parsley leaves, for garnish

3/4 tbsp. ghee, for pine and nuts

1/4 cup pine nuts, for garnish

Yogurt Sauce

3 cups drained yogurt

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tbsp. tahini

1/3 cup + 1/4 cup lemon juice

2 3/4 cups of cooking water

Salt, as needed

Assembly

2 cups drained chickpeas

1 1/2 tbsp. ghee,

Preferably samneh Arabi (Syrian ghee made from sheep’s milk)

Paprika, for garnish

Serving

Tomatoes

Onions

Spring onions

Radishes spices seasoning

Salt and pepper

 

Preparation

Measure dried chickpeas and put in deep pot.

Rinse in several changes with water.

Cover chickpeas with water.

Add 1 teaspoon Qelo to chickpeas.

Cover the pot, and let chickpeas to soak overnight at room temperature.

Next day, chickpeas will expand to over double their size.

Drain chickpeas.

Cover with water, turn on heat and keep on high heat until boiling.

During boiling, foam will occur on surface of the water. Skim any foam that rises to the surface.

Add 1 1/4 teaspoons Qelo.

Lower the heat and keep on low heat till it is cooked and tender but not mushy. An important note that during cooking chickpeas, you must make sure that it is all the time covered with water, so if the water level decrease, you have to add boiling water to it.

Keep chickpeas in its pot with its cooking water. Before assembling the fatteh, start heating the chickpeas on low heat.

Cut Arabic flat bread into squares, lay bread squares on an oven dish or baking sheet, and bake until lightly browned and crispy, and set aside.

Finely chop parsley, and set aside.

In a pan, heat 3/4 tablespoon ghee, and add pine nuts and keep until golden brown in color, then remove and place on paper towel and set aside.

To prepare yogurt sauce

Put drained yogurt in a bowl.

Add crushed garlic to yogurt.

Add tahini to yogurt.

Whisk until combined.

Add lemon juice to yogurt, and keep whisking.

Add 2 3/4 cups of hot cooking water from the chickpeas’ pot.

Whisk until combined, and season with salt.

In serving plate we have the bread, splash bread with chickpeas cooking water, not too much.

To make the layers of the fatteh, the toasted bread is in the serving plate, and now top with 1 cup of drained warm chickpeas.

Add yogurt sauce.

Top with 1 cup of drained warm chickpeas.

In a pan, heat 1 1/2 tablespoons ghee and bring it to high heat.

Add ghee to fatteh, this is one of most important steps, it gives fatteh the taste.

Garnish with pine nuts.

Garnish with chopped parsley.

Sprinkle with paprika, and serve immediately.

Serve fatteh with tomatoes, onions, spring onions, radishes, picked cucumber,

 

Lara Kh.