Levantine cuisine · Vegetable Dishes

Fattet Batenjan

Toasted flatbread, fried eggplant, and chickpeas layered under garlic-tahini yogurt, topped with pine nuts.

Ingredients · for 4 servings

• 2 eggplants
• 1 can chickpeas (400 g)
• 2 flatbreads
• 500 g yogurt
• 3 tbsp tahini
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 lemon
• 40 g pine nuts
• 50 g butter
• 6 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 bunch parsley
• Salt, pepper

Instructions

1. Wash the eggplants, cut into 2 cm cubes, salt and let drain for 15 min, then pat thoroughly dry.
2. Tear the flatbread into bite-sized pieces and toast in the oven at 200°C (400°F) for 6–8 min, until the pieces are light golden brown and crisp throughout.
3. Fry the eggplant cubes in the olive oil over medium-high heat for 8–10 min, turning, until deep golden brown and soft and creamy inside.
4. Whisk the yogurt with the tahini, pressed garlic, the juice of half a lemon, salt, and pepper until smooth — the sauce should run thickly off the spoon like cream.
5. Rinse the chickpeas and warm them in a little salted water for 5 min; foam the butter in a small pan and toast the pine nuts in it for 2 min until golden.
6. Layer the bread in a shallow dish, top with the chickpeas and eggplant, cover with the yogurt sauce and serve immediately with the brown butter, pine nuts, and parsley.