Mountain-Style Chicken Fatteh

Mountain fatteh built on a base of toasted flatbread, layered with pulled chicken, chickpeas, and a thick garlicky yogurt sauce, finished with pine nuts and crispy bread. The mountain version uses thicker, crispier bread and a richer yogurt than Beirut-style fatteh.

Ingredients

• 1 medium, poached and pulled whole chicken
• 400 g cooked chickpeas
• 4 rounds day-old Lebanese flatbread
• 600 g full-fat yogurt
• 3 tbsp tahini
• 4 cloves, crushed garlic
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 100 ml olive oil for frying
• 50 g pine nuts
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 0.5 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 small bunch fresh parsley
• 1.5 tsp salt

Method

1. Cut the flatbread into roughly 4 cm pieces. Fry in hot olive oil in batches until crisp and deep golden. Drain on paper towels. The mountain tradition fries rather than bakes the bread — the extra fat is part of the flavor.
2. Whisk together yogurt, tahini, crushed garlic, lemon juice, cumin, and 1 tsp salt until smooth.
3. Warm the pulled chicken in its poaching broth. Warm the chickpeas.
4. Assemble: lay the crispy bread pieces in a single layer in a large, shallow serving dish.
5. Spoon the warm chicken and chickpeas evenly over the bread.
6. Pour the yogurt sauce over everything, spreading to cover.
7. Toast the pine nuts in a dry pan. Scatter over the yogurt along with paprika and parsley.
8. Serve immediately — fatteh waits for no one.

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