Although many variations can be applied to this simple dish, this is perhaps the core of all fatta dishes, the simplest and most basic. Feel free to dress the dish up with yoghurt and mint instead of tomato (lessen the broth) or toss in pine nuts or cashews for extra flavor.
Ingredients
1/2 kg cubed lamb without bones
2 cups of water
Salt and pepper to taste
1 onion
3 tablespoons butter
5 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon vinegar
2 loaves of baladi bread (Egyptian pita bread)
2 cups of cooked rice (hyperlink)
Directions
1) Boil meat cubes in water with the onion (should remain whole) and the salt and pepper.
2) Skim off the froth, remove the meat and discard the onion. Save one cup of broth aside for later use.
3) Cut up the bread and bake it in the oven until crisp.
4) Melt two tablespoons of butter in a frying pan and fry the meat over high until well browned, then remove to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm.
5) Fry the garlic in the remaining butter until brown and add tomato paste. Deglaze pan with vinegar. Add the one cup of broth to the contents of the frying pan bring to a boil again.
Now you have dried bread, cooked rice, meat cubes and broth with vinegar and garlic. Just before serving:
6) Cover the bottom of your serving dish (preferably a casserole dish of some sort) with crisp bread.
7) Pour 1/2 broth with tomato paste and vinegar mixture over bread to soak in. Cover bread in rice.
8) Put lamb cubes on rice.
9) Add the other 1/2 of broth with tomato paste mixture over rice and lamb.
