Recipe
🍳 BREAKFAST
Galayet Bandora (Fried Tomatoes)
A simple Jordanian skillet of ripe tomatoes simmered down in plenty of olive oil with sliced garlic and green chilli until jammy, scooped up with warm pita.
Jordanian · easy · serves 4
prep 10 min · cook 40 min
~134 cal · 4g protein · 17g carbs · 7g fat · 4g fiber · 8g sugars · 1g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Galayet bandora means fried tomatoes, though the tomatoes are not really fried: they are simmered slowly in a generous pour of olive oil with sliced garlic and green chilli until they collapse into a jammy, savoury-sweet stew. In Jordan it is a staple and often counted among the country's national dishes, prized for its simplicity and its way of using up a glut of ripe summer tomatoes.
The dish is Levantine at heart, eaten across Jordan, Palestine, and Syria, and it began as farmers' food, cooked over a wood fire from home-grown tomatoes, garlic, and chilli. Its strength is its short ingredient list, so ripe, in-season tomatoes and a good fruity olive oil matter.
Some cooks blister a whole chilli in the oil first and let it in the sauce like a spicy bay leaf, and a scatter of toasted pine nuts and parsley is a common finish. It is scooped up with warm pita for breakfast or served as part of a spread.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
2 lbs ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 green chillies (serrano or jalapeño)
1 onion, chopped
to taste salt
3/4 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp pine nuts
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions
1
Heat the olive oil in a wide skillet over medium heat and blister one whole chilli in it until spotty brown, then set it aside.
✎ Chef’s note
The whole chilli simmers in the sauce like a spicy bay leaf, adding a grassy warmth without shredding heat through the dish.
2
Add the chopped onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes, then add the sliced garlic and the second chilli, finely chopped, with the black pepper and cook a minute until the garlic just turns golden.
3
Stir in the chopped tomatoes and a good pinch of salt, return the blistered whole chilli, and bring to a steady simmer.
4
Simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally and scraping the base near the end, for 30 to 40 minutes until the tomatoes collapse into a thick, jammy sauce.
5
Meanwhile, toast the pine nuts (or sunflower seeds) in a dry pan until golden, watching closely so they do not burn.
6
Taste and adjust the salt, then top with the toasted pine nuts and parsley and serve warm with pita bread.
Jordanian and wider Levantine home cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Amman. Amman's tables celebrate mansaf, lamb in fermented dried-yogurt sauce over rice, plus falafel, mezze, and knafeh. Bedouin hospitality and Levantine tradition define the Jordanian capital.
🗺️
Jordan. Jordan's national pride is mansaf, lamb cooked in fermented dried yogurt over rice and flatbread, eaten communally. Levantine mezze, flatbreads, and the Bedouin tradition of hospitality shape its warm, generous cuisine.
🌍
Asia. Fermentation is the thread that runs the whole way across: soy sauce and miso, Korean doenjang and kimchi, Southeast Asian fish sauces, the soured batter behind an idli. Chilli is the newcomer among them, arriving only after 1500 with Portuguese and Spanish traders, which makes the heat in Sichuan, Thai and Korean cooking far younger than the fermenting underneath it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Jordan
Maqluba (Upside-Down Rice)Layers of chicken, fried eggplant, cauliflower, and spiced rice cooked in one pot, then flipped tableside.
FattehLayers of toasted bread, warm chickpeas, and garlicky yogurt topped with sizzled butter and pine nuts.
MansafLamb cooked in a tangy fermented-yogurt sauce over rice and flatbread, Jordan's national dish of hospitality.
Browse all Jordan recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Skillet or frying pan.
Storing it: Best the day it is made. Wrap well and refresh in a warm oven, or freeze and reheat straight from frozen.
Make it a Jordan meal
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MahalabiaDessert
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Frequently asked questions
What is Galayet Bandora (Fried Tomatoes)?
A simple Jordanian skillet of ripe tomatoes simmered down in plenty of olive oil with sliced garlic and green chilli until jammy, scooped up with warm pita.
Where does Galayet Bandora (Fried Tomatoes) come from?
Galayet Bandora (Fried Tomatoes) is a Jordanian dish from Amman, Jordan.
Can Galayet Bandora (Fried Tomatoes) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Galayet Bandora (Fried Tomatoes) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Galayet Bandora (Fried Tomatoes) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Galayet Bandora (Fried Tomatoes) take to make?
About 50 minutes total (10 minutes prep, 40 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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