There are many versions of fattah in the Middle East. There are Lebanese, Iraqi and Egyptian versions of fatteh. The basic form contains layers of crispy pita bread, rice and a vinegar sauce. In the Egyptian version, we add a tomato sauce to the vinegar, making it red, hence the word “hamra” in the title. Usually, cubes of beef or lamb are added to the mix too. You can easily omit the meat, and make it a hearty vegetarian dish too. This recipe (a loose version of my mom’s) will always remind me of Ramadan growing up – especially the smell of the vinegar. A fellow DC blogger, Malaka, has an excellent recipe for Fatta Hamra too – she also has a great diagram for how to assemble the dish.

As for special ingredients, this recipe uses mastic, which is loosely translated as Arabic gum. They look like little crystals but they are actually very soft and are packed full of flavor. I found a small jar at the local Middle Eastern grocery store for $6 and it contains at least 50 crystals. I used one in this recipe so a little goes a long way. Is it bad if you don’t use it? No, but it doesn’t hurt to try something new!

Fattah Hamra
Prep and Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

1 lb of stew beef
2 loaves of pita bread
8 garlic cloves, minced
1 onion, diced
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp cardamom powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 mastic crystal
1/3 cup of vinegar
2 cups of rice
1 15-oz can of tomato sauce
salt
water
olive oil

(1) In a 200 degree oven, toast the pita bread for about 15 minutes. Remove and set aside.
(2) In a small bowl, marinate the stew beef with 1/2 diced onion, 1 tsp cumin, cardamom, and garlic powder. Set aside while you prepare the other ingredients.
(3) In a small pot, heat 1 tsp of olive oil over high heat. Add 2 cups of rice, 1/2 tsp salt, and 3 cups of water. Once the water comes to a boil, reduce heat and let cook for 20 minutes.
(4) In a pressure cooker, heat 2 tsp of olive oil over medium heat. Add the remainder of the diced onion. Pull apart the mastic crystal and add to the onions. Cook the onions until they are translucent and soft. Add the beef and lightly brown all sides of the beef.
(5) To the pressure cooker, add 4 cups of water and a dash of salt. Cover, and let cook for at least 30 minutes. The meat should be very tender. If not, add another cup of water and cook again for another 10-15 minutes. (If you do not have a pressure cooker, then boil the meat for at least 2 hours. You will need to periodically remove the foam that floats to the top when the meat boils).
(6) Remove the beef from the broth. You should have at least 2 cups of broth at this point.
(7) In a small saucepan, heat up 2 tsp of olive oil on medium heat. Add the minced garlic and saute. Add 1/2 tsp of cumin powder to the garlic and quickly stir. Add 1/3 cup of vinegar and let simmer for at least 10 minutes.
(8) Add can of tomato sauce and 1/2 cup of the reserved beef broth to the vinegar mixture. Let simmer on low heat for 15 minutes.
(9) Now you are ready to assemble. Crumble the bread into pieces at the bottom of a large casserole. Take the remaining beef broth and pour over the bread. It should be about 1 1/2 cups – enough to cover and soak the bread. If you have more broth, then either save or discard the rest.
(10) Sprinkle the cubes of beef on top of the soaked bread. Pour about 1/3 of the red sauce on top of the bread and beef.
(11) Add the rice on top and spread across the entire casserole. Pour the remaining red sauce over the top. Enjoy!