Middle Eastern Food

Home Made Hummus
The Middle Eastern authentic way


Hummus is one of the more popular Middle Eastern food and known in the west as a dip.
The best way to enjoy the Hummus is in plate with Olive oil in the center with fresh pita bread, The Middle Eastern way use the Tahini as an important part of the hummus recipe and cannot be substituted. but you can add or it can be reduced.

If you tried several Middle Eastern restaurants and eat the hummus, you know that hummus tastes different everywhere. Some types of hummus have a strong lemon flavor, some have an overwhelming garlic flavor, and some hummus has a spicy tone. When making your own hummus, you have to keep your own taste buds in mind. If a recipe calls for a lot of Tahini and you don't like Tahini, scale down the amount. the same with the garlic, you can cut down or just don't add garlic at all if you don't like it. The fun about Middle Eastern cooking is that the ingredient amounts aren't set with rules and have lots of variations and taste.

Hummus is the Arabic/Hebrew word for chickpea, The authentic way using a dry chickpeas...but it's complicated and time consuming, so we will use the canned chickpeas.

Ingredients:

1 540mL or 19 oz liq can of chickpeas (Cedar or Unico Brand recommended)
1/2 cup fresh water
1-2 fresh squeezed lemon juice (depending on taste)
1/2 cup Tahini (you can add or reduce next time depending on taste) any Lebanese kind but I recommend "Alkanater Tahina" if you get it in your neighborhood supermarket that have International sections. 
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preparation:
Empty the can of chickpeas in a drainer, wash the chickpeas very well under a cold water to wash out the taste of the can.
Put all the ingredients in blender or food processor. Add 1/2 cup of fresh water before start blending. Blend for 3-5 minutes on low until thoroughly mixed and smooth, if you see that the blender is working hard and need more liquid, just add more water, but don't let it be too watery.

You have to taste the dip and check if it's smooth enough and you like the taste & the texture, add more Lemon or salt as your favorite taste.

Place in serving bowl, and create a shallow well in the center of the hummus, add some Olive Oil, a garnish of fresh parsley & red paprika and serve.
You can keep the rest in well closed container in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Enjoy it, and let me know if you like it....




No comments:

Post a Comment