What is fatteh? The Jordanian bowl of bread, chickpeas and hummus
Fatteh is a warm bowl built on bread. Crisp flatbread at the bottom, chickpeas and hummus over it, a garlic yoghurt tahini sauce poured on while it is still warm, then toasted almonds, pomegranate seeds, cumin, sumac, parsley and a drizzle of olive oil. It is eaten with a spoon, and it is usually put in the middle of the table rather than served to one person.
What does fatteh mean?
The name comes from the Arabic for crumbling or breaking up, and that is the first thing that happens: the bread is torn or cut and crisped before anything goes near it. Every version of the dish across the Levant and Egypt starts there. What goes on top of the bread is what changes from one country and one kitchen to the next.
That is worth knowing before you order, because fatteh is not one recipe. It is a method with a lot of regional endings, and the one you get depends on whose kitchen you are standing in.
What is fatteh made of?
The base is four things: crisp bread, chickpeas, hummus and a garlic yoghurt tahini sauce. The bread is the structure and it is the part that makes the dish work, because it starts crisp and softens as it takes on the sauce, so the first spoonful and the last are not the same texture. That is the whole point of it, and it is why fatteh is not a dish to order for later.
On top go toasted almonds for crunch, pomegranate for sharpness, cumin and sumac for warmth and sourness, parsley, and olive oil. Some kitchens finish it with hot butter or ghee. Ours finishes it with olive oil.
Fatteh is also made with meat in a lot of places, usually lamb or chicken laid over the chickpeas. Ours is not. Our kitchen is vegetarian, there is no meat in it, and the fatteh you get here is the chickpea version.
How Jordan serves it, and how we serve it
We cook the Jordanian version. In practice that means the layering and the finish are done the way they are done at home rather than the Lebanese way, the spicing is a little quieter, and the bread does more of the work. It is a sharing dish and it is as much a breakfast as a dinner, which is the part most people in the Netherlands find surprising about it.
There are three on our menu:
- Classic Hummus Fatteh, EUR 9.50 regular or EUR 13.50 large. Warm layers of crispy bread, chickpeas, hummus, garlic yoghurt tahini sauce, toasted almonds, pomegranate, cumin, sumac, parsley and a drizzle of olive oil.
- Aubergine Fatteh, EUR 11.00 or EUR 15.00. The same, with fried aubergine through it.
- Cauliflower Fatteh, EUR 11.00 or EUR 15.00. The same, with fried cauliflower.
Fatteh also turns up inside two of the sharing boxes if you are feeding a table rather than yourself.
Is fatteh vegetarian?
Ours is. There is no meat in our kitchen at all, so every fatteh on our menu is a vegetarian one, which is not true of fatteh generally. If you are eating fatteh somewhere else, ask, because the meat versions are common and they are the older ones.
Is fatteh vegan?
Not as it comes, and this is the one thing worth reading twice. The sauce on all three of our fatteh bowls is a garlic yoghurt tahini sauce, and the yoghurt is dairy. On the menu each one carries an outlined leaf, which is our mark for a dish that is vegan on request, with a numbered note saying what the kitchen swaps.
The swap is the dressing. Ask for the non-dairy option and the dish comes without the dairy in it. The almonds on top are a garnish and can be left off if you would rather not have nuts. Everything else in the bowl, the bread, the chickpeas, the hummus, the pomegranate, the spices and the oil, is plant based to begin with.
Our kitchen is vegetarian and every dish on the menu can be made vegan. What that means dish by dish is written out on its own page.
Is fatteh halal?
Our fatteh contains no meat and no alcohol, so by composition there is nothing in it that would not be halal. As with everything else here, what people are usually checking is the kitchen rather than the recipe: whether the same oil has fried something else, whether there is wine or beer in a sauce.
There is no meat in our kitchen, we serve no alcoholic drinks, we use no alcohol in the cooking, and there is no animal rennet in our halloumi or our yoghurt. That is halal by composition, and it is a different thing from certification. We do not hold a halal certificate and we will not tell you that we do. If a certificate specifically is what you need, that is a fair thing to know before you come.
Fatteh, fattoush and fatayer are three different things
They start with the same three letters and they are constantly confused, so:
- Fatteh is the warm bowl on this page. Bread, chickpeas, hummus, sauce.
- Fattoush is a cold salad. Tomato, cucumber, herbs, sumac and fried or toasted bread through it. The bread is the only thing the two dishes share. We serve fattoush as a salad, and halloumi can go on it.
- Fatayer are small filled pastries, usually with spinach, cheese or meat. We do not make them.
If you came here looking for one of the other two, that is why.
Allergens
All three fatteh bowls carry gluten, sesame and nuts, and milk unless the dressing is swapped. The allergen line for each dish sits on the dish itself on the menu page, straight off our own kitchen’s allergen list. Our kitchen handles all of the allergens listed there. Equipment and utensils are shared between dishes, so we cannot guarantee that any dish is completely free of an allergen, even when an ingredient is left out on request. Please tell our staff about any allergy before you order, and they will check the specific dish with the kitchen.
Where to eat fatteh in Rotterdam
Nabäti Eatery is on Keizerstraat 168 in Rotterdam Centrum, about five minutes on foot from Rotterdam Blaak and a short walk from the Markthal. The kitchen is vegetarian and Jordanian, and the three fatteh bowls are on the menu every day we are open.
Opening hours are Monday to Thursday 12:00 to 20:00, Friday 12:00 to 19:00, Saturday 12:00 to 21:00 and Sunday 11:00 to 19:00.
Before you order
Fatteh is best eaten here rather than taken away, because the crisp bread does not stay crisp. If you are taking food back to a desk, the sandwiches and the small plates travel better. If you eat vegan, ask for the non-dairy dressing when you order rather than after. And if you have never had it, order the cauliflower one and share it.
See the full menu, dish by dish, or come to Keizerstraat 168 in Rotterdam Centrum and let someone at the counter talk you through it.
Frequently asked questions
What is fatteh?
A warm Levantine bowl built on crisp flatbread, with chickpeas, hummus and a garlic yoghurt tahini sauce over it, finished with toasted almonds, pomegranate, cumin, sumac, parsley and olive oil. The name comes from the Arabic for crumbling, which is what happens to the bread.
Is fatteh vegan?
Not as it is served here, because the sauce is made on a yoghurt base. All three of our fatteh bowls are vegan on request: ask for the non-dairy dressing and the dairy comes out. Everything else in the bowl is plant based already.
Is fatteh vegetarian?
Our fatteh is. Fatteh in general is often made with lamb or chicken, so it depends on the kitchen. There is no meat in ours.
What is the difference between fatteh and fattoush?
Fatteh is a warm bowl of bread, chickpeas and hummus. Fattoush is a cold salad of tomato, cucumber and herbs with bread through it. Both use bread and that is where the similarity ends.
Where can you eat fatteh in Rotterdam?
At Nabäti Eatery, Keizerstraat 168 in Rotterdam Centrum, about five minutes from Blaak. Three versions are on the menu: classic hummus, aubergine and cauliflower.
How much is fatteh at Nabäti?
The Classic Hummus Fatteh is EUR 9.50 regular and EUR 13.50 large. The Aubergine and the Cauliflower Fatteh are EUR 11.00 and EUR 15.00.
