Flavor Bomb Fatteh Salad with Yogurt Dressing

Recently we had a chance to try the warm fatteh salad at Solia restaurant. It is an amazing warm salad with all the components of a traditional fatteh, just without rice. It was amazing super flavorful, we knew we wanted to recreate it for ourselves at home. Meet the Flavor Bomb Fatteh Salad. A salad made up of romaine lettuce, crunchy bread swirls drenched in a spicy chili dressing all topped with tender chicken, garlic lemon yogurt and lots of flavorful add ons. You have to try this iteration of fatteh we think it’s here to stay!

Fattah (or fatteh) is a loved (or flavourful) Arabic dish that comes in different variations and is served differently around the world. But there’s almost always a base of bread or rice (or both), a stock of some kind, a layer of protein (chicken, beef, chickpeas), and a variety of dressings smothering the base that’s either yogurt-based, tomato-based or just the simple chili sauce. In Egypt fatteh mainly refers to a dish with red meat, rice, bread, and a vinegar-based dressing. Palestine Jordan and Lebanon are famous for their chicken fatteh, eggplant fatteh with red meat or the vegetarian hummus fatteh. In all cases, fatteh is one of the most flavourful dishes in the region bursting with freshness and garlic and is always a crowd-pleaser that seems to remind everyone of home.

INGREDIENTS YOU WILL NEED TO MAKE FATTEH SALAD

STEPS FOR FATTEH SALAD

We have several components in this dish, and it is all about layering. What’s even better is you can actually make all these components up to a day ahead and just assemble when serving. This makes it a great prep-ahead dish for gatherings or a quick lunch or dinner.

• A base of fried Arabic bread for crunchiness (we made swirls but feel free to do the regular squares)
• Lettuce for all the green goodness. You can leave the lettuce out for a more traditional iteration of the dish.
• Warm chicken
• Tangy yogurt dressing with tahini, lemon, and garlic.
• Spicy chili sauce for a kick.
• Toppings; Pomegranate seeds and molasses to add sweetness and love, crunchy almonds because what is fatteh without the fried nuts on top, parsley for herbaceous flavor.

BOILING THE CHICKEN

This is the basic method for boiling your standad chickenand making a homemade stock. Toasting the aromatics with the chicken before adding the water helps eliminate any funny chicken smell and gives the stock a deeper layered flavor. Feel free to use the aromatic spice blend you have on hand.

Into a large stockpot heat 2 tbsp of canola oil on medium heat. When the oil is hot add in all your aromatics ; cardamom pods, cinnamon, and bay leaves, cook until fragrant for about one minute. Add in carrots, onion, celery, and chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Toss your chicken and vegetables around with the aromatics for about 2 minutes. Add in boiling water, enough to cover the chicken by about 4 cm. Lower the heat to allow for a strong simmer, cover and allow to cook for 1 hour. Remove the chicken, and allow it to cool enough to easily handle. Shred the chicken into large pieces and set aside. Strain the chicken stock and freeze for another use.

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FRIED BREAD SWIRLS

A traditional fatteh always comes with a base of fried or toasted pita bread. Most of the time they are cut into squares but we wanted to use this swirl shape to give it additional texture and preserve the crunchiness longer. Also it just looks much cooler.

Cut your bread into 1 cm strips. Open each strip so you have a double length of the bread. Roll the bread up into a swirl shape. Set down until ready to fry.

Heat canola oil with butter until hot. Place the bread swirls into the pan and fry on both sides until golden brown.

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FOR THE CHILLI LEMON DRESSING “DUKKA” or “DUGGUS”

Into a pestle and mortar add your chopped chili, salt, and garlic, pound until a smooth paste has formed. Add lemon juice and give it a mix. This is what we will saturate the bread with later.

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YOGURT DRESSING FOR FATTEH SALAD

This quick yogurt dressing is what brings all the layers together smothering the chicken and the bread and giving our fatteh its tangy garlicky flavor.

Whisk yogurt, tahini, garlic paste, salt, pepper, lemon juice in a medium-sized bowl until combined. Adjust seasoning to your preference. Let this rest at room temperature until assembly. Or refrigerate if using later but bring back to room temperature before using.

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TOASTED ALMONDS

Add almonds and oil to a medium-sized pan on medium heat. Cook until light brown and fragrant. Strain onto a plate lined with kitchen roll.

ASSEMBLING THE SALAD

Melt 1 tbsp of butter in a small pan on medium heat. Add in chicken and season with salt and pepper. Then cook through until warm, about 2-3 minutes.

Layer 1: Into your serving bowl add your chopped romaine lettuce.

Layer 2: Add your bread swirls. Drizzle on some of the chili lemon dressing enough to soak the bread.

Layer 3: Top with your warmed seasoned chicken.

Layer 3: Add the velvety yoghurt dressing (ALL OF IT).

Essential Toppings: Garnish with pomegranate, chopped parsley, and toasted almonds, drizzle with some pomegranate molasses. Enjoy!

 If you make this Flavor Bomb Fatteh Salad please let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo #thetablediaries on Instagram. We love seeing all the recipes you and your family enjoy.