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eggplant fatteh
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5 from 2 votes

Eggplant Fatteh

Layers of crunchy pita, fried eggplants, meat, tomato pomegranate sauce, tahini yogurtsauce and topped with nuts and pomegranate seeds. A burst of flavors like no other!
Course Main Course
Cuisine Levantine, Syrian
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • Vegetable oil for cooking as needed

For the base

  • 2 small pita bread cut into bite size squares
  • ¼ tsp Aleppo pepper

For the eggplants

  • 750 g eggplants
  • 1 tsp salt
  • For the beef mince
  • 250 g beef mince
  • ½ tsp salt*
  • ½ tsp Salma’s spice mix*
  • ½ tsp Aleppo pepper

For the tomato sauce

  • 1 thinly sliced onion
  • 3 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
  • ½ cup boiling water
  • Pinch of salt

For the yogurt sauce

  • ½ kg yogurt
  • 1 tbsp tahini
  • 1 small garlic clove minced
  • ¼ tsp salt*

For the topping

  • Toasted nuts
  • Pomegranate seeds
  • Ghee optional

Instructions

For the eggplants

  • Start by cutting the eggplants into bite size cubes. Sprinkle with 1 tsp of salt, put on a kitchen towel in a single layer. Allow for water to be drawn out of the eggplants for at least 30 minutes or up to a few hours. Blot dry.
  • Deep fry the eggplants cubes until golden.

For the pita

  • Deep fry the pita squares until golden. Sprinkle immediately with Aleppo pepper.

For the beef mince

  • Brown the mince in a heavy bottomed skillet. Season with salt, Salma’s spice mix and Aleppo pepper.

For the tomato sauce

  • Add 1 tsp of vegetable oil and cook onions until translucent. Add tomato paste and pomegranate molasses and cook for a minute. Add ½ cup boiling water and salt. Simmer on low heat until the sauce thickens.

For the yogurt sauce

  • Beat the yogurt, tahini, garlic, and salt together in a bowl.

To assemble

  • Arrange the pita square of a plate. Top with eggplants, then beef mince. Add the tomato sauce, followed by the yogurt tahini sauce. Scatter over the toasted nuts and pomegranate seeds. Add the hot ghee if using. Watch out when adding the hot ghee, as it will splatter.

Notes

  • Traditionally, eggplants and pita bread are deep fried. I usually air fry them. Read post above for more on this.
  • I use coarse sea salt in all my cooking, change quantities accordingly depending on the type of salt you use.
  • Salma’s spice mix is a spice mix created by grandmother (Salma) and we use it a lot in our cooking. CLICK HERE for the recipe.