Halal-conscious recipe
Fatteh makdous with Halal lamb
Imad Alarnab's fatteh makdous with Halal lamb: fried baby aubergines stuffed with spiced lamb and pine nuts, simmered in a red tomato sauce and layered over tahini yogurt with crisp flatbread chips and cashews.
Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.
Why Halal checks matter here
The filling is 100 g of lamb mince, which is Halal only from a Halal-slaughtered animal; the sauce is 200 ml Greek yogurt, which needs a gelatin check; and the chips are shop-bought flatbreads, whose dough conditioner is worth a look.
Baby aubergines are cored, deep-fried until tender and stuffed with lamb mince fried with pine nuts, then simmered briefly in a red sauce of tomato paste, cumin, madras powder and seven spice. They are served layered over a garlicky tahini yogurt with crisp deep-fried flatbread chips and cashews. The source files it under Syrian dishes. The lamb needs a Halal source, the Greek yogurt should have no gelatin on its label, and the flatbreads should be free of L-cysteine (E920) of unstated source, or certified.
It follows Imad Alarnab's fatteh makdous for BBC Good Food, which serves four and is rated 'More effort'. The yogurt sauce can be made ahead and chilled, as the source suggests.
Serve with the rest of the flatbread chips on the side.
Halal-critical ingredients
- Lamb mince Lamb is Halal only from a Halal-slaughtered animal, and mince without a Halal mark doesn't say how the animal was slaughtered. Buy the mince from a Halal butcher or in a certified pack. See Lamb.
- Greek yogurt Plain yogurt is milk fermented with cultures, but gelatin turns up in set, low-fat and dessert yogurts. Choose a yogurt with no gelatin on the label. See Yogurt.
- Flatbreads Some industrial breads use L-cysteine (E920) as a dough conditioner; its source is not always stated. Choose bread without E920, or certified bread. See L-cysteine.
Safe substitutes
- Lamb mince of unknown slaughter → 100 g Halal lamb mince
- Flatbreads with E920 of unstated source → Flatbreads without E920, or certified ones (our swap)
Allergens
milk (Greek yogurt), sesame (tahini), gluten (flatbreads), nuts (cashews), pine nuts
Ingredients
Aubergines and chips
- as needed oil for deep-frying
- 8 baby aubergines
- 2 large round flatbreads, cut into squares
- to serve cashew nuts
Red sauce
- a little oil for frying
- ¼ tsp cumin seeds
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- ½ tsp mild madras powder
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp seven spice powder
- 200 ml water
Lamb filling
- 100 g Halal lamb mince
- a little olive oil for frying
- 25 g pine nuts
Yogurt sauce
- 200 ml Greek yogurt with no gelatine
- 4 tbsp tahini
- ½ lemon, juiced
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
Method
- Make the red sauce. Heat a little oil in a pan and fry the cumin seeds until fragrant. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients with ½ tsp salt and 200 ml water and cook until the sauce thickens to the consistency of single cream.
- Prepare the aubergines. Trim the tops off the aubergines, peel off strips of skin in stripes and hollow out the core with a small sharp knife or the end of a teaspoon. Soak in salted cold water so they keep their colour, then drain, squeeze lightly and pat dry.
- Deep-fry. Fill a pan one-third full of oil and heat until a cube of bread browns in 30 seconds. Deep-fry the flatbread pieces for 30 to 40 seconds until crisp and browned, and drain. Deep-fry the aubergines in batches for 4 to 5 minutes until browned and tender, and drain on kitchen paper.
- Stuff the aubergines. Fry the lamb in a little olive oil until browned and cooked through, then add the pine nuts and season. Stuff the aubergines with the lamb, through the ends or by splitting them, then cook them in a pan with 6 tbsp of the red sauce for 5 minutes.
- Make the yogurt sauce. Mix the yogurt, tahini, lemon juice, garlic and some salt, adding a little cold water if it is very thick. It can be made ahead and chilled.
- Layer and serve. Spoon the tahini yogurt into a large bowl. Top with a handful of the flatbread chips, the aubergines and all the red sauce, sprinkle with cashews and serve the rest of the chips on the side.
How this recipe was researched
Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Fatteh makdous (lamb-stuffed baby aubergines in tomato & tahini sauce)' by Imad Alarnab, which the source files under Syrian dishes (serves 4: a red sauce of ¼ tsp cumin seeds fried in a little oil, then a crushed garlic clove, 1 tbsp tomato paste, ½ tsp each mild madras powder, black pepper, ground cumin and seven spice powder, ½ tsp salt and 200 ml water cooked to the consistency of single cream; 8 baby aubergines trimmed, peeled in stripes, cored, soaked in salted water, drained and dried; 2 large round flatbreads in squares deep-fried 30 to 40 seconds until crisp, then the aubergines 4 to 5 minutes until browned and tender; 100 g lamb mince fried in a little olive oil until browned and cooked through, 25 g pine nuts added and seasoned; the aubergines stuffed with the lamb and cooked 5 minutes in 6 tbsp of the red sauce; 200 ml Greek yogurt mixed with 4 tbsp tahini, the juice of half a lemon, a crushed garlic clove and salt; served layered: tahini yogurt, flatbread chips, the aubergines and all the red sauce, cashews on top and the rest of the chips on the side). We specified Halal lamb mince, a gelatine-free yogurt and flatbreads without E920 or certified; nothing else needed changing. The source rates it 'More effort'. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.
Technique and ingredient sources
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Fatteh makdous (lamb-stuffed baby aubergines in tomato & tahini sauce) — BBC Good Food
Retrieved:
By Imad Alarnab, filed under Syrian dishes. Serves 4, prep 20 minutes, cook 1 hour, rated 'More effort': a spiced red tomato sauce; baby aubergines cored and deep-fried with flatbread chips; stuffed with lamb mince and pine nuts and cooked 5 minutes in the sauce; served over tahini yogurt with cashews. We specified Halal lamb.
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Lamb analysis — isithalal.food
Retrieved:
What makes lamb Halal: the slaughter.