Cumin Rostii with Lebanese Chickpeas (vegan)

Many years ago I worked for a manufacturing company whose dispatch department was staffed by two Lebanese brothers, Wassim and Rami. Every pay day, the boys would hop in Rami's Corolla at lunch time and drive over to Granville for Awafi chicken, and they would bring back a bag of a half a dozen manoosh laden with herby za'atar from the shop next door.

Awafi is practically an institution in Western Sydney, if you're into chicken - but it was always the promise of leftover manoosh that tickled my fancy.

The aroma of this heady, herby flatbread is like no other, probably due to what seems like a cup of dried oregano atop each warm puffy round. Whenever I catch a waft of za'atar manoosh, I think of Wassim and Rami.

By the way if you're heading to Granville for lunch you mustn't go past Abla Patisserie (just up the street) for Middle Eastern sweets.  :)

This salad is flavoured with oregano, thyme, sesame seeds, salt and oil; the building blocks of za'atar. I'm sure every Lebanese mamma has her own special take on it, but this basic mix gives you a lovely flavour that you can adjust to your liking.

This is so simple, almost too simple to put down as a recipe, but it was so lovely and summery and healthy and filling all in one, that I thought I might share it with you.

I actually started out attempting to make something more like a pizza base with the grated potato, but it turned out quite soft so it became more of a pancake / rostii thing.  :)

Cumin Rostii with Lebanese Chickpeas

Rostii
Approx 150 grams red delight potatoes, grated (about 3 small potatoes)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon coconut oil

Salad
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
125g can of chickpeas
1/2 teaspoon store-bought za'atar
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
1 tablespoon coconut or olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

To serve
Half an avocado
Handful of salted cashews

For the rostii:
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celcius. Squeeze any excess liquid from the grated potatoes (not much came out of mine) and combine with the cumin and coconut oil. Press the mixture into a small round oven-safe plate lined with baking paper (I used the bottom of one of my springform cake tins). Bake for around 20 minutes or until the potato is tender and lightly browned. Gently peel the baking paper off the rostii and pop it on a plate.

For the salad:
While the rostii is in the oven, halve the cherry tomatoes and combine in a bowl with the other ingredients. If you want a full-on manoosh kinda taste, go for at least double the amount of herbs.  :)

Mix well, and serve with half a sliced avocado, a handful of cashews and your rostii.

- Serves 1