Basic Hummus

I'll admit it: I'm a hummus newbie. I had only tried it one time in America before coming to India. But after we moved here, in our original flat there was a little hole in the wall Lebanese place nearby that had really great hummus, and I was converted. It also helps that hummus is one of the few ways I can get myself to eat fresh vegetables in India. 

I didn't try my hand at making homemade hummus until a couple of weeks ago, and now I don't know why I waited so long. It's actually really simple, and, like I said, is the vehicle to vegetable eating (and also a great snack options...snacks are the hardest in India!)

I take no credit for this recipe - it is courtesy of my friend Stephanie, although I adjusted it slightly to my tastes. I think hummus is very much one of those personal taste foods, so take this recipe as a guideline and adjust the amounts to what you like. I personally LOVE garlic, so I add lots of garlic (reflected below), and I also like really really smooth hummus, so I add a decent amount of olive oil to it. I actually don't measure anything other than the chick peas; I just add approximate amounts and adjust as I taste it. 

The bonus of this recipe is that no tahini is needed, and it still tastes awesome! Like I said though, I'm a hummus newbie, so I may just not be well versed in hummus enough to know the difference without the tahini. 

P.S. I think hummus is kind of a weird word, and it felt weird to say it in my head so many times as I was typing this out...

Basic Hummus

2 cups of cooked chicken peas/garbanzo beans

1/4 cup of dahi (Greek Yogurt)

5-6 cloves of garlic, minced

1-2+ TBS olive oil

1 TBS water

2 TBS lemon juice (I use the bottled kind, not fresh, bc I'm lazy)

1/2-1 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin

Black pepper to taste

Add all the ingredients to a blender/food processor. Pulse a couple of times to get things mixed together, then blend on low/medium speed for one minute. Check the hummus flavor and texture and then adjust to your tastes. Add more olive oil if you want it smoother, add extra seasoning, more garlic or more lemon juice if it tastes bland, etc. 

** To cook the chick peas, I soak them overnight and then cook them in the pressure cooker until soft. Obviously you can use canned chick peas in place of fresh if you have them.