Hey, it’s Ramadan!
For the next month our lives revolve around sunset, when we can eat again. I’ll admit I sometimes cheat, but I do my best to share the experience with the husband. I think he appreciates having someone to starve fast with.
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The usual dinner fare doesn’t quite cut it, I agree with him on this. During Ramadan we eat more of the traditional Syrian food my husband grew up with.
One dish we eat during Ramadan is Fatteh. It’s a layered dish, and generally consists of some sort of shredded or toasted bread pieces, layered with some broth or stock, and a mixture of yogurt and tahini. I depend on the husband to do all the calculating and mixing, but I’ve noticed we each like it a little different.
Here is a very loose interpretation of a recipe….should you choose to experience it for yourself.
1-2 large pieces of pita bread-toasted
1 lemon..or more
1 container plain yogurt. We get the home made kind at the Arabic store
Tahini paste
chickpeas/garbanzo beans… a big can. Or a small can. Whatever you like.
Crushed garlic….again, as much as you like.
Salt and pepper… however you like it.
slivered almonds and/or pine nuts
Butter
chopped fresh parsley
pomegranate seeds
My method:
Assemble ingredients about an hour before sunset, ignoring the burning as your stomach tries to digest itself.
Empty can of large chickpeas into strainer, rinse, and place into saucepan. Cover with water and set to simmer
Look at the clock. Sigh.
Squeeze your lemon into a small container, set aside. grab a bowl to mix the tahini and yogurt together.
Chop the parsley, and peel the pomegranate if you didn’t buy the ready to eat seeds from trader joe’s.
Break the pita bread into small pieces into a glass dish, somewhat bigger than 8×8, and smaller than 9×13.
Look at everything. Look at the clock. Walk away for 20 minutes. (keep coming back to stir the chickpeas and add more water if it cooks off too fast)
Mix the yogurt and tahini…. a LOT more yogurt than tahini…. like maybe 16 oz yogurt to 3 oz tahini…. but honestly it’s not exact, just do what feels right.
Add crushed garlic. somewhere between 1-3 cloves…. or what you want.
Add lemon juice. Add salt and pepper.
Try to smell how it tastes because you can’t taste it yet. stir up really well, test consistency. should be thicker than gravy, thinner than mud. Set aside.
Melt butter in saucepan, 1-2T….or whatever you like. Add nuts. about 1/2 cup total….maybe more. The goal is to brown the nuts and melt the butter without burning anything, so try to time it perfectly as you finish putting the rest together……
Remove chickpeas from the stove… should be just enough water left so they aren’t fully covered. Pour over toasted pita bread, move bread around to get it all covered.
Then pour yogurt concoction on top. don’t mix fully…but move a spoon around so it can also get through the layers but stays mostly on top.
Pour the hot butter and nuts on top…. the husband likes to spread it all around so every bit is covered.
garnish with little mounds of parsley and pomegranate seeds.
This is what you might end up with
By the time we are putting together the fatteh, I am officially hangry. I have no patience for anything. I have no sense of humor. I don’t care what channel the Cavs game is on…. I just want to put this together and EAT IT.
After being exposed to my short temper, and absent sense of humor…. the husband suggested that maybe I shouldn’t fast……..
momsranting 