Hummus where the Heart is
If you ever happen to venture in the beauteous land of Himachal Pradesh, you can be sure of enjoying good food from across the globe. Thousands of international residents flock to this land to explore the mountains and spend a few weeks, even months in peace. And naturally, when you are spending so much time in a land that is new to you, you would want to enjoy spending the time eating the food you grew up eating. It is, after all your comfort food.
But, how do you enjoy your comfort food, in a land that is new to you? Simple! Introduce your food and cooking techniques to the locals.
Countless number of Italians, Russians, Israelis, Americans and more from across the globe have walked this part of India and for many years that too. So, they took the liberty to teach the locals about their food.
The locals from this land have mastered the art of cooking dishes from these countries and they take great care to make use of the best ingredients to give the dishes the best flavour.
One such cuisine that the locals have mastered is undoubtedly the Israeli cuisine. One of the staple dishes is ofcourse the Hummus with Pita bread.
Master the art of preparing thick, flavoursome hummus with this recipe.
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley or cilantro
- 2 cloves garlics (or to taste)
- 2 Tablespoons pine nuts
- 3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- ground pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup tahina
- 1/2 cup lemon juice (or to taste)
- 1 cup dried chickpeas
Directions
Add cold water into a bowl and add raw chickpeas to it and let it soak overnight
Drain and rinse the chickpeas, then place it in a pot with cold water. Bring the pot to boil and then let it simmer. Ensure the lid is partially covering the pot. Do this process for an hour until you notice the skin of the chickpeas separating.
Drain the chickpeas and reserve 1 to ½ cup of cooking liquid. Put aside 1/4th cup of the cooked chickpeas to garnish.
Process the remaining chickpeas in a food processor and add tahini, lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper, cumin and atleast ½ cup of reserved liquid. If you find the hummus to be too thick, you can add more reserved cooking liquid or water till you are pleased with a paste-like consistency.
Heat a frying pan and add 1 tbsp of olive oil to it. Spread the pine nuts in the pan and stir-fry it ensuring it turns brown on all sides.
Before serving, transfer the hummus to a large plate and with the back of the spoon, make a slight depression in the centre. This is done, so that the remaining olive oil can be drizzled on top and the reserved chickpeas can be sprinkled along with the pine nuts, paprika and parsley or cilantro.
The hummus is best served with a small bowl of cut-up vegetables and warm pita bread cut into wedges.
Try this recipe out and do let us know how it turns out to be. Share other great Israeli recipes in the comments section below.
