Fetteh (Moroccan Soup Bar’s Chickpea Bake) #2
A while back I put up a recipe for Fetteh (see here). Simon then found an article that suggested that at the Soup Bar they add tahini, so we gave it another shot and the tahini really is a welcome addition. Also, don’t hold back on the oil. Here it is again:
(We were out of almonds so used pine nuts – a substitution I do not recommend)
You’ll need
- 1 piece of pita bread
- 1 clove garlic crushed
- 2 tins of organic chickpeas (I think the organic part is important, they’re much softer)
- 300-350 grams of yoghurt
- 100ml of olive oil
- a pinch of cumin
- a pinch of paprika
- 30g of slivered almonds
- Big tbsp of tahini
- A squeeze of lemon
To cook
Firstly, preheat your oven to quite a high temperature. Separate the pita bread and then toast it in the oven until nice and crunchy. Break it up into smallish pieces and set aside. Next, put the chickpeas, yoghurt and tahini in a saucepan and simmer until they’re warmed through (make sure they’re tender). If you can be bothered, you can rub the skins off the chickpeas first. It takes a bit of time and I don’t think it changes the flavour, but the texture of the overall dish will be better because you won’t have bits of chickpea skin floating around.
While your chickpeas are heating through, heat up the olive oil and gently fry the garlic, cumin, paprika and almonds. Careful not to let them burn. Once golden take them off the heat.
To put it together, layer the chickpeas and pita bread in a large bowl. Pour the olive oil mixture over the top and give it a squeeze of lemon. Then serve it straight away or the bread will get soggy!
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Soupurban 
why do i remember a taste of honey?
perfect timing. Although I’ve been meaning to try this out for a while, tonight is the night.
xo
I think it’s just that the garlic gets a little caramelized in the oil… but it does have a slightly sweet flavour
Hi Gemma, I also tried to recreate this recipe once, I drizzled some melted browned butter to finish of instead of olive oil.
Ahhh, that’s a good idea! I give that a go in my next attempt :)
I just made this for dinner accompanied with some lamb sausages and was most tasty. Very simple meal so I think i shall keep it in mind for entertaining where i tend to get over excited and cook too many dishes. Mine didn’t quite hit soup bar excellence but it was great none the less.
Yeah, you know I think I hold back on the butter/oil, stops it being totally spot on. You have to make sure you’re using really good quality thick yoghurt too. Sounds like an awesome dinner party :)
I have been looking for this recipe for ages, am sooo glad you put this up! I used to live in Melbourne and just loved the Moroccan Soup Bar, I miss it so much. I live in India now and am waiting to make this. But one question; when you heat the chickpeas and yoghurt doesn’t the yoghurt get all runny and watery?
Hi swati, as long as you use good quality full fat yoghurt it works fine (whenever I think chickpeas I think healthy, not with this one). If you want to make it authentic don’t hold back on the oil!
I used to live in Melbourne too and the Soup Bar was of my favorite! Now I live in Shanghai and it’s very hard to find un-sweetened yoghurt, or even if you do, they are painfully expensive. So I make my own yoghurt and and tried this recipe last night. The yoghurt got runny, and although it was tasty, it was not near as good as one from the Soup Bar. I guess I should give it another shot with different yoghurt and butter instead of olive oil… with a dash of honey. But thanks heaps for putting this up!!
Thanks so much for the recipe! I have been thinking about that chickpea bake ever since I had it at the soup bar a couple of weeks ago! This recipe turned out pretty close, I think I maybe needed to add more yoghurt.
I think what you’re missing is some brown sugar – that’s the real reason it tastes so good!
this recipe is amazing! however, i’m also sure there’s a little honey in there to
Yeah, a few people have said honey. I will have to give it a go next time I make it :)
hi there, i suspect the nuts were fried in ghee. Ghee is clarified butter and when heated enough, it releases a sweet nutty flavour (at least to my palette). We use it when frying nuts for desserts, and when I had the chickpea back at the Moroccan soup bar, it was the taste of ghee that hit me.
Does this recipe make 2 servings?
More like 3!
I think they fry the pita bread in butter or ghee. This makes it cripsy and adds a buttery flavour which I am sure I can taste when I bite into the pita.
As a Group working in the African music industry “Fetteh (Moroccan Soup Bars Chickpea Bake) #2 Soupurban” is right up our street and we will keep checking for interesting additions to your post. If you want to know more about Moroccan Music, visit us at %URL% … Well written, thank you :-)
Woweee! so went to Moroccan Soup Bar a few years back and the chickpea bake/Fetteh totally ROCKED-MY-SOCKS! been dying to go back and get me some o’that hearty chickpea goodness!
Since become vegan … as you can imagine my world=COMPLETELY SHATTERED from the distant memories of the moroccan perfection when a friend reminded me of its yoghurty goodness =(
Can anyone advise on a way to veganise this Fetteh-magic-ness?????
P.S – i will love you forever! haha
Hi Alex – you could try sourcing soy yoghurt instead. Or how about blending up some silken tofu? It wouldnt be the same, but might give you some of the creaminess. Good luck with your vegan quest!
I agree with Taniia. I’m pretty sure the pita was fried in butter/oil/etc. and not just oven baked. I just went to Soup Bar recently and while I was eating the dish I kept thinking the whole time how the pita bits were still super crunchy even though they’d been soaking in the yoghurt for quite a while.
Hello! great recipe, god I love it!! I used Meredith Dairy natural sheep yoghurt, which kept it’s integrity well when cooking!