Fattet Hummus (Chickpea Fatteh)

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Fattet hummus, or chickpea fatteh, is a delicious savory bread pudding made of crunchy fried pita bread, a garlicky tahini yogurt sauce, chickpeas, and garnished with sticky-sweet pomegranates, parsley, and pine nuts fried in ghee.

fattet hummus with fried pine nuts and garlicky tahini yogurt

Weekend breakfasts are never complete without a big warm plate of fattet hummus. Everyone waits for that fattet hummus to hit the table, and once it does, it's gone in seconds.

The Arabic word fatteh means crumbs or crushed. It describes the stale pita bread bits that can be repurposed for this recipe. There are many different regional variations for this simple dish. This crunchy dish is common in the levant region.

What You'll Love

You'll find that this dish is super versatile. It's most commonly a breakfast or brunch dish in Syrian and other Levantine households. It's also served for lunch and dinner, especially during Ramadan.

The best thing about it is how simple the ingredients are. It's basically just golden brown crispy pita chips, yogurt, tahini, chickpeas, spices, and nuts. Easy!

Ingredient Notes

Chickpeas: Use canned or cooked whole chickpeas (from dry chickpeas). Garbanzo beans are the same as chickpeas.
Yogurt: Avoid Greek yogurt for this recipe because it won't give your fatteh the best texture (you're aiming for a creamy base). But you can use full-fat, half-fat, or lower-fat yogurt.
Tahini: Tahini is a sesame paste that makes the yogurt sauce smooth and creamy. Here's how you can make your own tahini sesame paste at home.
Pita Bread: Use white or wholewheat pita bread to make homemade crispy pita chips. Cut the pita bread into little squares and fry to crunchy golden perfection.
Fresh Garlic Cloves: Use freshly mashed garlic. Adjust the amount of garlic to your preference. Minced garlic is not the same as mashed garlic paste.
Lemon Juice: Always, always use freshly squeezed lemon juice. The store-bought kind doesn't taste like lemon.
Ghee or Olive Oil: Hummus fatteh with ghee is on another level. You'll use it to fry your pine nuts, then pour it on top of the fatteh while the ghee is still super hot. The sizzle it makes is like music to your ears. You can definitely use olive oil if you don't have ghee on hand, but ghee definitely packs a special kind of flavor.
Fresh Parsley: Use curly parsley or Italian parsley.
Fresh Pomegranate Seeds: I know not everyone enjoys fruit in savory dishes, but the sour-sweet pomegranates are so unique on this fatteh. The easiest way to peel pomegranates is in water.
Pine Nuts: Fried in ghee or extra virgin olive oil to golden perfection. It adds that extra nutty crunch.

How to Make

If using dried chickpeas, boil on the stovetop with water until soft (about an hour). If using canned chickpeas, rinse the chickpeas in water and drain.

Cut the pita bread into small pieces. Fry until golden, and set aside.

In a small bowl, mix the yogurt with the smashed garlic, tahini, lemon juice, ground cumin, and salt.

Assemble the layers in your serving dish: Start by spreading the fried crispy pita bread into an even layer.

Then, add a layer of chickpeas. Save some of the chickpeas for a garnish at the end.

tahini yogurt layered on top of the chickpeas and toasted pita

Next, add the tahini yogurt layer.

layered hummus fatteh with chickpeas, garlicky yogurt, and fried pita bread

Garnish with pomegranate seeds, chickpeas, and chopped parsley.

In a small skillet, fry the pine nuts in melted ghee or olive oil.

fattet hummus completely layered with toasted pita, chickpeas, pine nuts, and pomegranate

Pour the toasted pine nuts on top. Serve immediately.

Tips and Tricks

Prepare ingredients ahead of time. This dish is basically made up of layers of different ingredients. Before assembling your layers, ensure you have your bread fried, the creamy yogurt mixture is done, your chickpeas drained, your toppings ready, and your nuts ready to fry.
Mix the tahini well before adding it to the yogurt. Natural tahini separates, so you'll find the thick paste at the bottom of the container while the sesame oil floats to the top. Just stir it up with a spoon, so it's fully incorporated.
Assemble right before serving. This isn't a make-ahead kind of dish. Make this fattet hummus before serving it, so the bread stays crunchy and doesn't have too much time to get soggy.
Fry the nuts right after you assemble your layers. You want the ghee or olive oil to be sizzling while you pour them on top.

Variations

Another vegetarian fatteh recipe is eggplant fatteh (fattet batinjan) made with fried eggplant cubes, chickpeas, garlicky tahini yogurt, crispy bread, and toasted nuts.

Melt butter instead of ghee or olive oil for the pine nuts.

Canned vs. Cooked Chickpeas

I recommend boiling your chickpeas; you can always make more than you need to store in the freezer for easy future access. It just tastes so much better with home cooked chickpeas, and is definitely much healthier without those extra chemicals and preservatives. If you choose to use canned chickpeas, please drain the chickpea water and rinse. I find that rinsing them gets rid of that canned food aftertaste.

Is hummus fatteh gluten-free?

Make this vegetarian dish gluten-free by using gluten-free bread. Check your local bakery or specialty grocery store, or you can make your own gluten-free pita bread.

Is minced garlic the same as garlic paste?

No, minced garlic is finely chopped garlic using a knife and cutting surface. Garlic paste is formed mashing the garlic cloves with a mortar and pestle.

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