I discovered pita bread and hummus when I was in Google Hyderabad. We had a salad bar with all these crunchy, fresh vegetables and a bowl of creamy hummus with warm, oven-fresh pita bread right next to it. It wasn’t really a popular choice since our lunch buffet had much more appealing dishes but practically every other day, I used to make a pita sandwich with some lettuce, tomato slices, cucumber and a generous spread of hummus.
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Those were the days that I could get hummus without going through the trouble of making it myself but now things are different. So last weekend, I set out to the task myself. My hummus came out really well and though next time I may blend it until creamy, I still didn’t mind the coarse texture of it this time.
One ingredient you will surely need is good-quality Tahini. I got mine from NTUC FairPrice in Singapore. I don’t remember the brand name now but tahini is definitely available here in Singapore.
If you want to prepare the hummus without tahini then you can avoid it, which will of course affect the flavour but the end product is still creamy and delicious. Sometimes, kids are allergic to tahini so follow the hummus recipe below but without tahini.
Ingredients:
Chickpeas – 1 cup, washed and soaked in water overnight or at least 8 hours
Tahini – 1/2 cup
Lemon juice – 1 tbsp
Garlic – 1/2 tsp, minced
Cumin / jeera / jeerakam – 1/2 tsp, crushed (I used cumin powder)
Salt – to taste
Olive oil / sesame oil – 1 tbsp
Instructions:
1. Wash the soaked chickpeas well and drain water completely.
2. Pressure cook until soft (3 whistles) in sufficient water. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, transfer the chickpeas to a pot and add water until it is well covered. Cook until the chickpeas are soft and mash easily. This should take about 30-40 mins. Do not add salt while cooking the chickpeas as this will harden them.
3. Drain the water used for chickpeas and keep aside. Blend the chickpeas until smooth, adding little water if too thick.
4. Add the rest of the ingredients (except oil) and continue to blend until you get a smooth, thick paste that is of spreading consistency. If too thick, add very little water at a time from the water used to cook the chickpeas.
5. Make sure you mix the oil in before serving!
I didn’t buy pita bread so I served it with some home made white bread.
Kitchen Flavours
Wow easy to make recipe. Will try this soon.
Madhu
Love hummus, pics looks great.
Rajitha
love hummus too…adn can actually make a pig out of myself when i get my hands on it…actually i make a pig outta myself on many things LOL….
Tina
wow perfect…amazing photos…
Chitra
Tahini is new to me.never heard of it.Nice recipe:)
Shreya
hi Nags, I never approached the hummus/ bread/salad bar and so missed the hummus totally!:-( I never was a salad person except for raw cucumber and carrot slices. Will try this and let you know how it turns out, and I think I will try it without Tahini. Thanks for the recipe and the site information!
RAKS KITCHEN
Looks so cool! Looking forward for the homemade white bread recipe:)
Nags
Shreya, let me know how it came out, though I must warn you! Without tahini, its quite ordinary tasting 🙂
sowmya
dip looks delicious and serving with homemade bread sounds so good..
btw, you get tahini in mustafa too..
MeetaK
i love hummus and i think we make it at least once a month for dipping veggies and co. lovely recipe!