Hummus (Chickpea dip) - Tuesday Toot

Anyone who is familiar with Hummus making will be wondering what there is to toot about...aah..but my hummus is made absolutely the tedious way..hence the toot!!!

Hummus is an absolute must in Middle Eastern cuisine. It is a great dip, and can be great combined with the various salads, kebabs, and other meat preparations.

Hummus is absolutely vegetarian and made predominantly from chickpeas (white kadala). Now a days it is very easy since there are canned chickpeas available. The next essential ingredient needed is tahina or paste made from white sesame seeds. (ellu /til). Yet again, tahina is also readily available in the market.

Despite all this wonder why I made mine from scratch? Simple..just to see if I could..!!!So this is how I made hummus..

Chickpeas dried - 1 cup
Soak overnight, wash and drain and cook them till tender.
Or drain 1 1/2 can of chick peas

Sesame seeds - 2 tsp
On a non-stick pan, dry-fry the sesame seeds, keep shaking or stirring to roast evenly, dont let them brown.

Olive oil - 4 tbsp
Garlic - 1 clove, crushed and minced
salt - to taste

Add the sesame seeds, salt, garlic and 2 tbsp oilve oil and grind to a paste. Now keep aside a few whole chickpeas for garnish and grind the rest. Mix well.

Lemon juice - 3 tbsp (or according to taste)

Add the lemon juice, the chickpea paste and another tablespoon of olive oil and blend well. (Take note that from 4 tbsp mentioned, we had used only half that)

Garnish with the whole chickpeas, olive oil and a spinkling of paprika powder.

Superb with fried chicken or kebabs.