HUMMUS

“Annabeth:My fatal flaw. That's what the Sirens showed me. My fatal flaw is hubris.

Percy: the brown stuff they spread on veggie sandwiches?

Annabeth:No, Seaweed Brain. That's HUMMUS. hubris is worse.

Percy: what could be worse than hummus?

 

― Rick Riordan, The Sea of Monsters

The quote above might be funny but I must say I disagree completely. Hummus is wonderful. It is particularly wonderful for me now that after 4 unsuccessful attempts I've finally gotten it right.

 

What you’ll need:

1 cup chick peas (soaked in water overnight)

 

Note: This makes a lot of hummus. In my house people keep popping spoonfuls in their mouth but if you're not expecting that kind of consumption halve the portions here.

 

½ cup yoghurt

3 tbsp garlic

Note: You can start with less and add more later if this seems much to you. I’m a big garlic fan so I suspect I'm putting in more than most people.

2 -3 tbsp Tahini

Note: I can’t be bothered to roast sesame seeds and then pound them. I recommend you buy the paste off the shelf and make your life easier.

3 – 5 tbsp olive oil

3 –5 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp chilli powder

Salt to taste

How to:

1. Pop soaked chickpeas into a saucepan with a tablespoon of salt. Drain and save some of the cooking  liquid of the chickpeas. Let the chickpeas cool a little.

2. In a mixer pour in all ingredients and some of the chickpeas cooking liquid. Blend till grainy. This may take some effort so keep tasting and adding more liquid to get it into a nice, grainy paste.

3. Taste – you may need to add more salt/ lemon juice/ garlic/ yoghurt as per your taste. Add ingredient of choice and blend some more.

4. Serve with carrots and cucumbers or warm pita bread.