Hummus bi Tahina

The picture of the Middle east flashing on TV is always one of meat being cooked everywhere. It gives the impression they are complete carnivores, even though they eat a lot of vegetables and chickpeas! But here I am presenting a complete veg meal from the Arab cuisine, three dips that a Indian vegetarian can enjoy. Hummus bi tahina or chickpeas with sesame seed paste is the first I show you here.

Hummus is healthy as it has protien and is low in calorie, no wonder we can include it in our foods without worrying about the carb dose. It is rich in fibre, minerals and vitamins. Ok so before you start swallowing capsules of hummus in the near future take some time out to make this really easy peasy dip which if you have preped in advance is ready in a jiffy.

Ingredients 

1 cup chickpeas /Kabuli chana, soaked overnight and cooked soft
juice of 2 lemons
1/8 cup Tahina
6-7 garlic cloves
salt

For the garnish

1 Tbs. olive oil
1 tsp. paprika/ Kashmiri chili powder
few sprigs of parsley or cilantro, finely chopped

Grind the chickpeas in a blender (or food processor) with the lemon juice, tahina, garlic, salt and enough of stock from boiling the chickpeas. It should be a soft creamy consistency easily scoopable on a morsel of pita bread.

Yes and next coming up is a post on how to make Pita bread, you will come back to read how I made them won't you?