Easy Aubergine Fatte

Fatte is a style and a specific technique of preparing a dish with endless options of sauces and toppings. It is one of the iftar dishes that are present at the iftar table made in one way or another alongside lentil soup, chicken soup, jareesh soup, tatar burak, and many other delights. The meaning of fatte: is pieces of bread that soak up the sauce. In the olden days' stale bread was used as the food was scarce and there was no room for waste, it was recycled, nowadays fried bread is more common, but I choose to toast the bread.

This fatte is popular in the Levant and is prepared in many ways and styles I have made it more healthily and quickly. In general, fatte styles vary from city to city and from country to country within one region. The traditional fattes are chickpea fatte (which we love to eat on a Friday), chicken fatte, offal fatte, trotter fatte, meat fatte, kufta fatte, and more. I love to play around with this dish as the combinations are endless as long as you follow the technique:

· Toasted or Fried bread, a yoghurt sauce or a yoghurt tahini sauce, and a wet sauce of some sort with a topping of vegetable or meat.

· Fried bread, a yoghurt sauce or yoghurt tahini sauce, rice cooked in stock, and meat topping.

Servings: 1 sharing

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Start to finish: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 oven-toasted wholemeal flatbread

• 1 recipe yoghurt tahini sauce

• 400 grams cubed lamb

• 3 cloves minced garlic

• 1 large onion, sliced

• Salt and pepper to taste

• 1 teaspoon 7 spice

• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil

• 2 tins stewed tomato

• 4 tablespoons tamarind sauce

• 300 grams aubergine

Method:

· Prepare the toasted pita bread following the recipe here.

· Prepare 1 recipe yoghurt tahini sauce

· Prepare the aubergine following the method in my aubergine Fattoush recipe.

· Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan and saute the lamb until cooked, season with salt, pepper and 7 spice.

· In another pan fry, the onions and garlic for 2 minutes then add the chopped tomato, cook for about 10 minutes on medium heat then add the tamarind sauce and season with salt and pepper.

· Place the bread on the serving plate then top with the tomato sauce, then a layer of yoghurt tahini sauce and finally finish with the fried lamb and grilled aubergine. Decorate with fried pine nuts, parsley and pomegranate seeds.

· Serve immediately.

Notes:

· You have the option to deep fry the bread and the aubergine.

· You can use any lean meat.

· For a vegetarian option omit the meat.

Per platter: 2481 Calories; 142g Fat (50.9% calories from fat); 100g Protein; 208g Carbohydrate; 15g Dietary Fibre; 325mg Cholesterol; 5433mg Sodium.