Breakfast Hummus Fatteh

Have you ever heard of Hummus Fatteh? If yes, good for you, and if not, listen closely. It’s a Levantine breakfast dish, and it’s the absolute best. It’s my current favourite breakfast, and it makes sure to give you a healthy, protein-packed start to your day. While many in the west might think of delicious creamy hummus when hearing the word “hummus”, we will not be making this fantastic meze today. Hummus simply translates to chickpea in Arabic, and we use a lot of them today. But we will keep them whole, and pan-roast them with delicious spices. Then we will add them to crispy fried flatbread and top them with a fragrant,garlicy vegan yoghurt, herbs, fried almonds, and olive oil. This combination of ingredients goes incredibly well together, and I can wholeheartedly recommend trying hummus fatteh if you haven’t had before. Due to the nutritional qualities of chickpeas, the dish is loaded with high-quality plant proteins! Another thing I love about this recipe: It is super easy and quick to make and is super satisfying to prepare. You will find out what I mean when you stick along. 

Ingredients for Hummus Fatteh:

• Chickpeas
• (Fried or baked) flat pita bread
• Soy yoghurt
• Almonds
• Olive oil
• Garlic
• Lemon
• Parsley
• Salt
• Baharat
• Cinnamon
• Za’atar
• Sweet paprika powder

There are different ways of preparing Fattet Hummus, as you can find varieties of the dish in different Levantine regions and households. I am making a pretty basic version, which I adopted as the standard for my breakfast. It involves only a few ingredients, but they are all you could ever need for a savoury start to your day. You will want to have a thin flatbread, chickpeas (you can use canned or dried ones), soy yoghurt, fresh garlic, lemon, flat-leaf parsley, a few almonds and olive oil. Regarding spices, baharat, cinnamon and za’atar are my go-to. I have a recipe on how to make your own za’atar if you are interested! Lastly, some sweet paprika powder makes a great addition. But feel free to use any spices you like that you think might work with this recipe. When cooking this for friends who don’t have baharat and za’atar on their spice shelf, I’ve used cinnamon, cumin and turmeric to make hummus fatteh, which also tasted delicious!

How to make Fatted Hummus: 

The Fried Pita:

To make the vegan hummus fatteh, we will need to separately prepare the ingredients and bring them together as the final dish. First, I like to take care of the flatbread. We want to get it nice and crispy, and there are two ways to achieve that: Pan-frying or baking. While pan-frying works amazingly, I usually to stick with the oven for this dish. You will need less olive oil, thereby keeping the dish on the lighter side. It is also a bit quicker and easier to make. In my opinion, pan-frying gives a slightly better flavour though. For a full guide on how to make the most delicious fried pita bread, check out this guide!

Brush the bread thinly with olive oil from both sides, and place in your oven at 130°. When turning nicely golden on one side, flip it and keep a good eye on it so it doesn’t brown too much. We don’t want bitter flavours to develop. 

Cooking the Chickpeas:

While the bread is baking, we can move on with the chickpeas in the meantime. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan, and add your soaked chickpeas to the pan. When using canned chickpeas, I like to add the chickpea liquid to the pan as well. Add the baharat, cinnamon and za’atar, and sauté the chickpeas until they are evenly coated with spices and creamy soft. For me, it’s the softer the better, so I like to take 20-30 minutes for this. In the end, any liquid should have evaporated, and the chickpeas should have an equal coating of spice. Season with salt & pepper, and keep warm. 

The Yoghurt Garlic Dressing:

While the chickpeas get all nice and creamy, you can prepare the yoghurt topping for the hummus fatteh. To do so, mash the garlic and add it to the soy yoghurt. You can do that using a garlic press or pestle and mortar. Alternatively, you can mince the garlic, add some salt, and press & spread it out with the flat surface of your knife. We want to break down the garlic as much as possible, so it releases all its delicious flavour into the yoghurt, without having noticeable pieces of garlic in there. Add the lemon juice and salt to the season. The garlic flavour intensives once the dressing infuses for a few minutes. I like to check for seasoning right before plating the dish.

For the last toppings, pick the leaves of your parsley, chop roughly, and set them aside. Lastly, roughly chop the almonds. Heat olive oil in your pan, and fry the almonds until nicely browned. I like to add a pinch of sweet paprika powder here. Don’t discard the oil, as we will use it to dress the final dish. 

Plating Hummus Fatteh:

To assemble the hummus fatteh, break the crispy pita bread as a bottom layer into a deep plate. While many traditional recipes call to soak the pita with chickpea stock, I like to keep it crunchy, so I omit this in this recipe.

Next, I add the chickpeas and top everything with the yoghurt mix, parsley, and crisp almonds. Lastly, take 1-2 tablespoons of the remaining spice-infused hot olive oil, and dress it over the cold yoghurt. You will hear a beautiful sizzle. You can sprinkle some za’atar and sumac over the dish, and that’s it. 

Some more Recipe Inspirations:

• A tasty vegan baba ganoush
• Smooth and delicious hummus
• If you like this recipe, you will love musabaha
• A fresh and fragrant tabbouleh salad
• Flavourful ful medames
• This sweet and spicy muhammara
• Fava bean spread