Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Hummus is a traditional mid-eastern dip traditionally served with flat bread. The word itself means chickpeas in Arabic. Its one of those healthy foods which tastes good :) .

Other thing I love about hummus is that its ready in no time and could be made ahead of time . Making your own hummus has its own advantages over the store bought ones . You do not compromise the taste (in fact homemade tastes better), you know what ingredients and the quality of ingredients that goes into it plus its very economic.

The basic hummus recipe includes chickpeas, tahini , lemon juice but you can flavor it with garlic, cilantro, chili flakes, rosemary or roasted peppers like I did.

Ingredients:

16 oz. can of chickpeas/garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed thrice,

3 tbsp. tahini paste,

juice of 1 lemon,

3 cloves of garlic , coarsely chopped

2 tbsp. cumin pdr,

1/2 tsp. salt,

1 tsp. chili pdr,

1 red peppers, roasted n skinned (tip below)

few tbsps. water, if needed.

Method:

To roast the red pepper:

Rinse n wipe dry your pepper n just roast it on a open flame till it blackens. Put it in a plastic or paper bag n let cool slightly. Remove skin and coarsely chop the pepper into cubes and keep aside.

OR

Put in under a preheated broiler for 5-10 mins. or till the skin of the pepper blackens. Put it in a plastic or paper bag n let cool slightly. Remove skin and coarsely chop the pepper into cubes and keep aside.

Now place chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, cumin pdr, salt, chili pdr and garlic cloves in a food processor. Process for 2- 3 minutes until beans are coarsely chopped, now add the roasted red pepper , scrape the sides of the processor and process an additional 2-3 minutes. Use very little water, if needed, to achieve the desired consistency. Mix well and store in a glass container tightly covered. Refrigerate overnight (or at least few hrs) to allow the flavors to develop. Serve it with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil (optional) alongside some pita chips.

A tip from me is to use a food processor and not a blender to make hummus.

The more its rests the better it tastes and the flavors develop.

You can use the dried chickpeas too, just soak them overnight in warm water...but I think the canned ones work fine.