I have had this recipe from Serious Eats pinned for ages, but I was waiting until my boys were home from college to make it because it makes a lot of food, and I knew it was something they would really like.
I had never heard of Fatta before making this and it seems it has a pretty open ended dish. Wikipedia says Fatta or Fattah is an Egyptian and Levantine dish consisting of pieces of fresh, toasted, grilled, or fried flatbread covered with other ingredients that vary according to region. This version I made has tender pieces of beef chuck cooked in spices and it is served with a garlic sauce and a tomato sauce that is made from the broth the meat cooks in.
This recipe takes a few hours to cook because of stewing the beef, but it is a fairly easy recipe otherwise. I made the toasted pita pieces with store bought pita bread which worked great. This dish was really flavorful with all the spices it uses and the garlic sauces were SO good. It is a great dinner party food because it serves a bunch of people if you serve with sides (my family of 5 finished all the meat but not all of the rice/pita as a main dish).
A couple ingredient notes: this recipe uses ghee, which is clarified butter. It has a higher smoke point that regular butter so can be used for searing meat etc. If you don’t want to get or make ghee, use canola oil in those steps instead. Mastic resin is resin from a mastic tree. It has a subtle flavor and you can leave it out if you like. I bought some off amazon because I wanted to try it. It tastes good, but I think the recipe is fine without it if you don’t want to buy that.
Egyptian Fatta
Ingredients
For the meat and broth:
- 2 1/4 lbs chuck roast or stew meat cut into 1 inch cubes
- salt
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 3 bay leaves
- 5 green cardamom pods slightly crushed
- 2 mastic resins optional
- 10 whole black peppercorns
- 5 allspice berries
- 1 3 inch cinnamon stick
- 1 yellow onion peeled and halved
- 5 garlic cloves unpeeled
- 6 cups water or more if needed
- 15-20 parsley stems
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp cayenne
- 1 beef bouillon cube or 1 tsp korean beef powder (see my favorites list)
For the rice:
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 green cardamom pods
- 1 mastic resin optional
- 2 cups basmati rice soaked for 30 min in water, then drained and rinsed
- 3 cups warm meat broth
- salt and pepper to taste
For the toasted pita:
- 4 pitas cut into 1 inch squares
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp sumac
- salt and pepper
For the garlic sauce:
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 8 garlic cloves minced
- 3 tbsp white vinegar
- 1 cup meat broth
- salt and pepper to taste
For the tomato sauce:
- 1/2 cup garlic sauce (above)
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- salt and pepper
Instructions
For the meat and broth:
- Season beef with salt all over, set aside. In a large heavy bottomed pot or Dutch oven, heat ghee over medium heat until shimmering. Add the bay leaves, cardamom, mastic resin (if using), black peppercorns, allspice, and cinnamon, and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Working in batches to avoid crowing the pot, add beef in a single layer (you can leave the whole spices in the pot). Increase heat to medium-high and cook, turning occasionally, until beef is browned all over, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate with the whole spices and repeat with remaining beef.
- Add onion and garlic to the pot and cook over medium-high heat until beginning to blister, about 1 minute. Heat oven to 300.
- Return beef and whole spices to the pot along with any accumulated juices. Stir in hot water (the water should cover the beef by about 1 inch; if necessary, add additional water) along with parsley stalks, cumin, coriander, paprika, and cayenne. Bring the broth to a boil over medium-high; let boil for 5 minutes.
- Move to the oven and bake uncovered at 300 until the meat is fully tender, about 2 hours. Season with salt and add beef bouillon cube or beef powder, if desired. Remove from heat and let cool slightly, about 5 minutes.
- Strain the broth through a fine-mesh strainer set over a large heatproof bowl. Transfer the cooked beef cubes to a separate plate, discarding onion, garlic, parsley stalks, and whole spices, then cover broth loosely to keep warm. Transfer the broth to a clean medium saucepan, skimming and discarding any fat on the surface; you should have 4 cups of broth (if necessary, add additional water to reach 4 cups). Cover to keep warm.
For the rice:
- In a large saucepan, heat ghee over medium heat until shimmering. Add the bay leaves, cardamom, and mastic resin (if using) and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant and mastic has melted, about 1 minute.
- Add the rinsed and drained rice and cook, stirring constantly, until the rice is very lightly toasted and evenly coated with the ghee, 2 minutes.
- Stir in the meat broth, cover, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook until rice is tender and water is absorbed, following timing on rice bag instructions. Usually about 12-15 minutes. Remove from heat, uncover rice, and fluff with a fork, seasoning to taste with salt and pepper; discard cardamom pods and bay leaves. Let stand, uncovered, for 5 minutes (this allows excess steam to escape so the rice remains fluffy). Then cover rice with a clean tea towel to keep it warm until you assemble the fatta.
For the pita:
- Preheat oven to 400°F. On a rimmed baking sheet, drizzle pita squares all over with oil. Sprinkle all over with garlic powder, paprika, cumin, and sumac, along with a large pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Toss until evenly coated. Bake seasoned pita, tossing once halfway through, until crispy and golden, 10 to 15 minutes. Set aside and cover loosely with aluminum foil to keep warm until you assemble the fatta.
For the garlic sauce:
- In a small saucepan, heat ghee over medium heat until shimmering. Add minced garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until garlic becomes fragrant and starts to turn golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Immediately whisk in the vinegar, then whisk in the broth and remove from heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then set aside.
For the tomato sauce:
- In a small saucepan, heat the 1/2 cup of the garlic-vinegar sauce over medium heat until nearly simmering. Whisk in tomato paste until fully dissolved. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
To assemble:
- On a large serving platter, arrange the toasted pita chips in an even layer. Spoon the hot rice on top in an even layer. Drizzle 1/2 cup of hot garlic-vinegar sauce over the rice.In a large skillet, heat ghee over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add cooked beef and cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and arrange the cooked beef over the rice.Drizzle the entire dish with the tomato-garlic sauce.