Hummus

Honest confession!! I love licking the mixie jar once my hummus is ready. I love the flavour of garlic and I use it liberally. The sharp tang of freshly crushed garlic is out of this world!! There are times when certain ingredients are missing from the pantry. In such cases make do with the next best thing. The hummus recipe requires Tahini which is a sesame seed paste. Since Tahini is not a common thing in Indian cuisine most kitchens do not stock it. Sure you can make some Tahini separately. But the problem is that while blending sesame seeds in a jar you need a certain amount to make sure that the paste is smooth. And after using about a spoonful of Tahini you are left with the rest and don’t know what to do with it. So the next best thing is to use roasted sesame seeds directly into the hummus ingredients. It doesn’t make that much difference to the taste. And if you are out of sesame seeds as well then make do without it. The hummus will still taste finger licking good.


Ingredients

½ cup cooked kabuli chana ( I usually make falafel and hummus together and so take out half a cup of cooked kabuli chana from the 2 cups i soak)
6 garlic pods
2 tbsp sesame seeds, dry roasted
1 tbsp olive oil
Juice of ½ lemon
Salt to taste

Put all the ingredients in a mixie and blend to a smooth paste. You can add some water if you want.
Drizzle some more olive oil on top.

Falalfel

So this is my newest favourit-est nibbler. Mediterranean food is awesome. Dips, salads, pilaf, simple food with exotic flavour. Falafel and hummus are a typical example of the simplicity if the cuisine. The main and the basic ingredient in both is chickpea or our desi kabuli chana. I find it very convenient to put falafel and hummus in my menu for any party. Simply soak 2 cups of kabuli chana the night before and next day a little mixing and blending and you have a wonderful dish on your table. Using the desi or local ingredients gives the dish an Indi flavour. Many people simply grind the soaked the kabuli chana and make falafel tikkis. I, personally prefer pressure cooking the chana and then making falafel.


Ingredients

Makes about 20 falafel 
1 ½  cups chick pea/kabuli chana, soaked overnight
1 large onion, chopped fine
3 green chillies, chopped fine
5 garlic pods, chopped fine
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
2 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp coriander powder
Juice of ½ lemon
Salt to taste
Bread crumbs for binding

Pressure cook the kabuli chana with a little salt. Drain and cool. Grind to a paste. The paste does not have to be very smooth.
Dry roast the cumin seeds and crush them to a powder. Add all the ingredients and mix well. Use breadcrumbs to make sure that the mix binds well. Make small balls. Deep fry.
You have to make sure that the falafel binds well or they will burst open when put in hot oil. I prefer test frying a piece or two.