During my engagement, one of our favorite restaurants was Al-Zuwadeh restaurant in the nearby small town of Fuhais. My fiancé and I will go there all the time and enjoy the delicious home made food, especially the different kinds of fatteh. But our favorite was their Fattet Magdous.
When we got married, I decided to try preparing Fattet Magdous at home. So I started asking friends and relatives for recipes. I cooked it several times following different recipes and it used to turn out well, but not exactly like the Fattet Magdous we loved at Al-Zuwadeh! Then one night we were invited to dinner at our Lebanese friend’s house, and she had prepared Fattet Maqdous. Her Fatteh was delicious!! It tasted exactly like the one we loved! I didn’t leave that night before I had her recipe for Fattet Magdous in my hand! That night, I discovered that the trick to a great Fattet Maqdous, is adding sumac and basil which give it a heavenly taste.
Now, I am literally the Fattet Magdous expert in both my, and my in-laws family. Whenever anyone has a party, they ask me to prepare it, and even after all these years every time I prepare Fattet Magdous, it brings back fond memories of our engagement days, of lovely times listening to great music and enjoying a lovely evening with my handsome husband.
Fattet Magdous Recipe:
Guest post prepared and submitted by Rima Kayyal.
Preparation time: 25 min Cook time: 30 min
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
500 grams minced Meat
1 jar (680 gram/ 24 oz.) readymade spaghetti tomato sauce
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons mixed spices
1 teaspoon sugar
4 large eggplants (400 – 450 grams each)
1 large Arabic bread (pita bread)
1 large can of Yogurt
2 cloves of garlic, minced (these are additional to the previous 2 cloves)
2 teaspoons sumac
2 tablespoons dried basil
½ cup pine nuts
½ cup almonds
How to make Fattet Magdous
- Heat the oil in a large pan, then add the 2 cloves garlic and the onion, sauté until it starts changes color. Add the meat and sauté while turning until meat is cooked. After that add the salt, pepper and mixed spices, mix well then add the readymade spaghetti tomato sauce. Once it starts boiling, add the sugar, stir and simmer for a few minutes before turning off the heat.
- Peel the eggplants and cut them in cubes. Put them in a bowl full of water so they don’t turn dark. Then fry the eggplants in hot oil, just remember to dry the eggplants well before adding them to the oil. I usually fry the eggplants the day before, and store it an airtight container that is lined with paper towels so as to absorb all the extra oil. You can also grill the eggplants by brushing them with oil and lining them on a tray and baking in the oven. Personally, I like frying them.
- Cut the bread into small pieces and line them in a tray, then bake in oven until they toast and turn brownish. Again I do this one day ahead of time and store them in a plastic bag.
- Heat oil in a pan and fry the pine nuts and almonds. Fry each separately as pine nuts fry faster.
- Place the nuts on a plate lined with tissue paper to absorb excess oil. You can also do this the day before.
- The day of serving, mix the yogurt with 2 cloves minced garlic, and store in the fridge until assembling the dish.
Assembling the Fattet Magdous:
The Fattet Magdous is assembled just before serving.
- Heat the meat mixture.
- In the serving dish (glass or ceramic), spread the toasted bread.
- Add half of the eggplants.
- Sprinkle on top 1 teaspoon sumac, and 1 table spoon dried basil.
- Top with the meat mixture.
- Add the other half of the eggplants, sprinkle the remaining 1 teaspoon sumac and 1 table spoon dried basil on top.
- Pour the yogurt on top.
- Garnish the Fattet Magdous dish with the toasted pine nuts and almonds.
Hope you enjoyed today’s easy recipe: Fattet Magdous; a traditional Middle Eastern Cuisine dish. Bon appetite.
Do you like having Fattet Magdous as an appetizer or as a main dish?
اضغط الرابط لقراءة وصفة فتة المقدوس بالعربي باللغة العربية
