Fattet Jaj

Directions

1. 1
   Pour the yogurt into a bowl and beat in the garlic.
2. 2
   Let it come to room temperature.
3. 3
   Wash the chicken.
4. 4
   Put it in a large pot and cover with water.
5. 5
   Bring to the boil, and remove any scum.
6. 6
   Add the lemon juice and cardamom, mastic if you like, salt, and pepper, and cook until the chicken is very tender and almost falls off the bones1 to 1 1/2 hours.
7. 7
   Lift out the chicken, remove the skin and bones, and return the chicken pieces to the stock.
8. 8
   Bring it to the boil again when you are ready to serve.
9. 9
   In the meantime, make the hashwa or filling: Fry the onion in 3 tablespoons of the oil until it is golden brown, stirring occasionally.
10. 10
    Add the ground meat and cook, crushing and stirring it, until it has changed color, then add the rice and continue to stir.
11. 11
    Add cinnamon and allspice, salt and pepper, and 1 3/4 cups water.
12. 12
    Cover the pan and reduce the heat to a minimum.
13. 13
    Cook gently over low heat for about 20 minutes, until the rice is done.
14. 14
    Open out the pita breads.
15. 15
    Toast them in the oven or under the broiler until they are crisp and only lightly browned.
16. 16
    Then break them up into pieces in your hands and spread them at the bottom of a deep serving dish.
17. 17
    Work quickly to assemble the dish when you are ready to serve, so that all the layers, apart from the yogurt, are hot.
18. 18
    Cover the toasted bread with the rice-and-meat hashwa.
19. 19
    Lay over this the chicken pieces, and pour over enough of the flavorsome stock to soak the bread thoroughly.
20. 20
    Cover entirely with the yogurt, and sprinkle the top with the pine nuts lightly fried in a drop of oil.
21. 21
    Serve at once.
22. 22
    Instead of toasting the bread, Josephine cut it into triangles, deep-fried them in oil until crisp and brown, and then drained them on paper towels.
23. 23
    A number of Arab dishes go under the name fatta, which describes the manner of breaking crisp toasted Arab bread into pieces with your hands.
24. 24
    They all have in common a bed of toasted bread soaked in a flavorsome stock, and also a topping of yogurt.
25. 25
    The fillings in between vary.
26. 26
    The most common is with chickpeas (page 333); another is with eggplants (page 314).
27. 27
    A special favorite is with chicken, meat, and rice.
28. 28
    They are considered family food and are not usually offered to guests, but if you go by the delight with which they are described, they are more popular than party dishes.