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Al Fattah
Fattah is a communal dish where food is shared in order to increase the meal size and feed more people.
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Panel and header illustrated by Shirouq Idris
Fattah is a communal dish where food is shared in order to increase the meal size and feed more people. It is made up of several components with the main element usually being a type of bread, or similar staples, that are broken or mashed up into smaller pieces. Making fattah is an affordable way for everyone to share what food they have, adding it to the contents of one bowl and eating it with a cheap and tasty chili condiment.
Bread loaves in Sudan vary according to the type of crops grown in the region, whether the dough is fermented and the method used to cook them whether in an oven or on a hot plate over a coal fire.
Wheat products
Wheat is mainly grown in northern and central Sudan, so we find most types of bread is made of wheat in these regions. Varieties include Nubian Bread such as the Argo, Dongola and Basawla bread which are loaves made in large disc shapes and baked in local ovens. The loaves are usually firm on the outside and soft on the inside, and have a lot of pulp due to the use of a type of yeast called Badra Aish. Local Bread, known as Baladi or Aish Tabouna is the most common type of bread in Sudan. It is also baked in large commercial ovens or at home. It is made of wholemeal, unhusked wheat flour. Fino Bread is a modern type of bread loaf that only recently became popular in Sudan. It is made of white flour or husked flour using modern machinery and commercial ovens.
Fattah of boiled flour, wad luba or dan waki (one by one) are balls of wheat flour dough, thrown into boiling water to cook and then eaten with a vegetarian food similar to sakhina described below..
Bread fattah
There are several different ways and recipes for eating baked bread fattah, most notably with meat stew or broth. This type is often eaten on big occasions such as weddings and religious events, and is also distributed as a karama; an offering for blessings. There are several ways to make the stew and sometimes rice and kisra may be added to the dish. Another meat fattah is made with chicken stew or broth. This is a more recent invention but looks similar to the meat fattah with the pieces of meat displayed on top of the pile of stew-soaked bread.
Ful, fava bean fattah or bosh, is a street food that is also a recent addition to the fattah repertoire. The water in which the ful has been boiled is added to the bread pieces and a variety of other things are added on top. These can be tamiya (falafel), white cheese, cooked lentils, salad, yogurt, and mish (a fermented soft cheese) and many others. The idea of fattah is to add what is available and, therefore, considered a cheap meal that is easy to make and share. There are several stories about the origin of the name, the first is that the word bosh means a gathering of people, the second is that the large plate, in which the fattah is made, was originally called bosh, while another story is that it was named after former US president George Bush senior.
Sakhina stew varies from one region to another and is made of vegetables, but mostly onions and tomatoes which are fried and to which water and large quantities of dakwa, or peanut butter, are added
Fattat Adas is made with lentil soup. This is by far the most popular type of fattah mostly because of its low cost but also because of the variety of other foods and condiments that can be added to it to make it tastier.
Uwasa
This is the process of making flat wheat-flour bread with the thickness varying from one place to another. In northern Sudan, it is usually spread, or flattened, over a hot plate and is made at home typically using wholemeal wheat flour but sometimes white flour is added to the dough mixture to help spread it on the hot plate particularly when making the thinner varieties.
Gurasa is also known as kabid or kabida, and it is the most well-known, and thickest type of flatbread produced in this way. The uwasa, baking, of gurasa is simple because the dough is easy to spread and it can be baked quickly. It is usually eaten with a basic stew made up of either tomato and meat, called mulah ahmar (red stew) or mulah akhdar (green stew), which is based on broth mixed with powdered dried okra or weka. Gurasa can also be eaten as a dessert with sugar and ghee, or yoghurt.
Gurasa recipes for fattah include kurdtad, a fattah of chickpeas or beans and jakasurid, a fattah of onions and oil.
Thinner types of gurasa include tabtab, sanasen, al-fateer, salab or salabiyya, and idweer. Methods and sizes of these loaves depend on where you are in northern Sudan but it is often mostly eaten with savoury dishes or stews that are denser in consistency. Stews eaten when making fattah with this type of gurasa include meat stews which are similar to those used in bread fattah. Fattah is eaten with stew on big occasions. Fattah with milk, or yogurt is usually consumed as a lighter meal at dinner. Mukhbaza is made from wheat bread that resembles gurasa and is often stuffed with bananas, or cut into small pieces and bananas and the rest of the ingredients are added to it.
Sorghum products
Sorghum is a rain-fed crop that is grown in many places in Sudan and as such, is the traditional food for many communities. Bread made with wheat flour only became popular when eating habits started to change around the mid-twentieth century. As sorghum does not contain gluten, it is cooked by spreading it onto a hotplate or made into porridge.
Thin sorghum flatbreads, also known as kisra, vary according to the amount of husk left in the flour and include the wad akr or fetarita varieties. White kisra is made out of sorghum that has had all the husk removed and is eaten more in areas of central Sudan. Kisra fetarita, where the husk is left in the sorghum flour, is mostly eaten in western Sudan. Another variety is the millet or red kisra. Kisra is eaten with different types of foods, such as the customary mulah and tabikh meat, chicken or vegetable stews depending on what is popular in each region. Fattah recipes with kisra include sakhina which is similar to that eaten with the bread fattah. Kisra with water is a light, cheap meal made up of kisra mashed up with spices and water or yoghurt.
Millet products
Millet is usually eaten whole or in the form of porridge. Sometimes flat breads are made from it in the form of kisra or gurasa and these can be cut into balls of dough that are boiled and eaten with milk or sugar in a similar way to fattah. Varieties include karako which is made of millet flour and eaten with milk or yogurt and sugar. Gadugaddu and gougar is made from husked millet flour, and is served as a drink or a meal.
Panel and header illustrated by Shirouq Idris
Fattah is a communal dish where food is shared in order to increase the meal size and feed more people. It is made up of several components with the main element usually being a type of bread, or similar staples, that are broken or mashed up into smaller pieces. Making fattah is an affordable way for everyone to share what food they have, adding it to the contents of one bowl and eating it with a cheap and tasty chili condiment.
Bread loaves in Sudan vary according to the type of crops grown in the region, whether the dough is fermented and the method used to cook them whether in an oven or on a hot plate over a coal fire.
Wheat products
Wheat is mainly grown in northern and central Sudan, so we find most types of bread is made of wheat in these regions. Varieties include Nubian Bread such as the Argo, Dongola and Basawla bread which are loaves made in large disc shapes and baked in local ovens. The loaves are usually firm on the outside and soft on the inside, and have a lot of pulp due to the use of a type of yeast called Badra Aish. Local Bread, known as Baladi or Aish Tabouna is the most common type of bread in Sudan. It is also baked in large commercial ovens or at home. It is made of wholemeal, unhusked wheat flour. Fino Bread is a modern type of bread loaf that only recently became popular in Sudan. It is made of white flour or husked flour using modern machinery and commercial ovens.
Fattah of boiled flour, wad luba or dan waki (one by one) are balls of wheat flour dough, thrown into boiling water to cook and then eaten with a vegetarian food similar to sakhina described below..
Bread fattah
There are several different ways and recipes for eating baked bread fattah, most notably with meat stew or broth. This type is often eaten on big occasions such as weddings and religious events, and is also distributed as a karama; an offering for blessings. There are several ways to make the stew and sometimes rice and kisra may be added to the dish. Another meat fattah is made with chicken stew or broth. This is a more recent invention but looks similar to the meat fattah with the pieces of meat displayed on top of the pile of stew-soaked bread.
Ful, fava bean fattah or bosh, is a street food that is also a recent addition to the fattah repertoire. The water in which the ful has been boiled is added to the bread pieces and a variety of other things are added on top. These can be tamiya (falafel), white cheese, cooked lentils, salad, yogurt, and mish (a fermented soft cheese) and many others. The idea of fattah is to add what is available and, therefore, considered a cheap meal that is easy to make and share. There are several stories about the origin of the name, the first is that the word bosh means a gathering of people, the second is that the large plate, in which the fattah is made, was originally called bosh, while another story is that it was named after former US president George Bush senior.
Sakhina stew varies from one region to another and is made of vegetables, but mostly onions and tomatoes which are fried and to which water and large quantities of dakwa, or peanut butter, are added
Fattat Adas is made with lentil soup. This is by far the most popular type of fattah mostly because of its low cost but also because of the variety of other foods and condiments that can be added to it to make it tastier.
Uwasa
This is the process of making flat wheat-flour bread with the thickness varying from one place to another. In northern Sudan, it is usually spread, or flattened, over a hot plate and is made at home typically using wholemeal wheat flour but sometimes white flour is added to the dough mixture to help spread it on the hot plate particularly when making the thinner varieties.
Gurasa is also known as kabid or kabida, and it is the most well-known, and thickest type of flatbread produced in this way. The uwasa, baking, of gurasa is simple because the dough is easy to spread and it can be baked quickly. It is usually eaten with a basic stew made up of either tomato and meat, called mulah ahmar (red stew) or mulah akhdar (green stew), which is based on broth mixed with powdered dried okra or weka. Gurasa can also be eaten as a dessert with sugar and ghee, or yoghurt.
Gurasa recipes for fattah include kurdtad, a fattah of chickpeas or beans and jakasurid, a fattah of onions and oil.
Thinner types of gurasa include tabtab, sanasen, al-fateer, salab or salabiyya, and idweer. Methods and sizes of these loaves depend on where you are in northern Sudan but it is often mostly eaten with savoury dishes or stews that are denser in consistency. Stews eaten when making fattah with this type of gurasa include meat stews which are similar to those used in bread fattah. Fattah is eaten with stew on big occasions. Fattah with milk, or yogurt is usually consumed as a lighter meal at dinner. Mukhbaza is made from wheat bread that resembles gurasa and is often stuffed with bananas, or cut into small pieces and bananas and the rest of the ingredients are added to it.
Sorghum products
Sorghum is a rain-fed crop that is grown in many places in Sudan and as such, is the traditional food for many communities. Bread made with wheat flour only became popular when eating habits started to change around the mid-twentieth century. As sorghum does not contain gluten, it is cooked by spreading it onto a hotplate or made into porridge.
Thin sorghum flatbreads, also known as kisra, vary according to the amount of husk left in the flour and include the wad akr or fetarita varieties. White kisra is made out of sorghum that has had all the husk removed and is eaten more in areas of central Sudan. Kisra fetarita, where the husk is left in the sorghum flour, is mostly eaten in western Sudan. Another variety is the millet or red kisra. Kisra is eaten with different types of foods, such as the customary mulah and tabikh meat, chicken or vegetable stews depending on what is popular in each region. Fattah recipes with kisra include sakhina which is similar to that eaten with the bread fattah. Kisra with water is a light, cheap meal made up of kisra mashed up with spices and water or yoghurt.
Millet products
Millet is usually eaten whole or in the form of porridge. Sometimes flat breads are made from it in the form of kisra or gurasa and these can be cut into balls of dough that are boiled and eaten with milk or sugar in a similar way to fattah. Varieties include karako which is made of millet flour and eaten with milk or yogurt and sugar. Gadugaddu and gougar is made from husked millet flour, and is served as a drink or a meal.
