About the Recipe:
I have made a lot of fattoush in my life. I have a lot of clients who ask for it, but I also just love the marriage of the lemony sumac, red wine balsamic, and the crunch of the baked pitta. This is a South African version that plays on the bones of the recipe, but I used the ingredients found around Cape town instead.
Dressing
Ingredients:
Yield: six servings (12 tbsp)
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Juice of 2 lemons
1 tsp salt
4 tbsp red wine vinegar
8 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp honey
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Method:
Mix well.Â
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Poppadoms
Ingredients:
Yield: 4 servings (2 poppadoms per salad)
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8 poppadoms
1 tsp each of curry powder, salt, sugar
1 cup rapeseed oil for frying or deep fat fryer instructions
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Method:
Make salt masala. Heat oil and fry poppadoms until crispy, or 30 seconds. Remove onto paper towels and while still hot, sprinkle with masala and set aside.Â
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Salad
Ingredients:
2 heads of gem lettuce
25g each of mint/parsley/dill/coriander- keep the stems of the latter (or two chopped tbsps.)
¾ cup pomegranate seeds (plus a few for plating)
250g cherry tomatoes (or roughly 13/15)
2 small or one large cucumber
2 red peppers, peeled, core and pith removed
10 green onions, chopped fine
1 ½ tbsp sumac
2 tbsp dukkah
½ cup hemp hearts
½ cup sesame seeds
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Method:
Chop the ends of the gem and slice thin. Place in a large bowl. Chop all the herbs finely except the coriander. Pick the leaves off the stems and then chop the stems fine. Add to bowl. Add pomegranate. Slice cherry toms in half and add to bowl. Peel the cucumber in stripes and cut in half. Cut into 3 dimensional triangles. Add to bowl. Place half the sumac over the cucumber and toss well with sumac to coat. Dice the peeled red pepper into small bite size squares. Add the green onions. Then add the remaining spices and seeds. Mix well to combine. Serve 315g per bowl. When ready to serve, each serving gets two tbsp of dressing and mix well. Crunch poppadoms over the top and sprinkle a few pomegranates for color.Â