Spicy Hummus

Hummus, an ancient Arabic appetizer, is now available in every supermarket as it took the western world by storm a few decades ago. Traditional hummus is nothing but the creamy blend of chickpeas & sesame seeds. Now there are different flavors of hummus available in the market to satisfy the ever growing demands of consumers across the world. Sabra is the most popular American brand for dips/ spreads namely Mediterranean hummus & Mexican guacamole. Wingreens is one of the few Indian brands selling hummus and they all boast to sell the “original” hummus. Unfortunately there is no Indian brand for hummus with Indian flavors, so I have tried spicy green hummus & red hummus that suit our palates.

Hummus can be prepared just like our usual chutney with commonly available ingredients. I have prepared red hummus using red chillies & red capsicum, and green hummus using green chillies and coriander leaves as they not only add bright color to hummus but also add tantalizing fragrances. Now the recipes for green hummus & red hummus are as below:

Spicy Hummus Recipes

Ingredients:

Red hummus	Green hummus
200 grams of pressure cooked kabuli channa (chickpeas)	200 grams of pressure cooked kabuli channa (chickpeas)
5 Red chillies	4 Green chillies
2 cloves of garlic	2 cloves of garlic
2 tsp of sesame oil	2 tsp of sesame oil
1 Red capsicum	A bundle of fresh coriander leaves (cilantro)*
1 tbsp of sesame seeds (ellu)
1/4 tsp of cumin seeds (jeera)	1/4 tsp of turmeric powder **
2 tbsp of olive oil	2 tbsp of olive oil
1 tsp of salt	3/4 tsp of salt
A squeeze of lemon	A squeeze of lemon
Aquafaba (water used for cooking chickpeas) or plain water required to make the paste	Aquafaba as needed

*We need to trim off the hard stems, and use the leaves & tender stems only.

**Turmeric powder is used to enhance the green color of coriander leaves

How to prepare chickpeas:

• Soak chickpeas overnight.
• Rinse them & drain the water.
• Pressure cook them by adding turmeric powder (1/2 tsp) and water in the ratio of 1:2 and simmer for 10 min. after reaching high pressure.
• Spoon out the cooked chickpeas and pour the cooking water (aquafaba) into a jar.
• Peel the skin of chickpeas (to make a smooth paste) when they are moist and keep aside.

Red Hummus

1	Heat a pan in medium flame. Add sesame seeds, cumin seeds & red chillies into the pan. Remove them from pan when sesame seeds are toasted. Spread them on a plate to cool down.
2	Heat the same pan with sesame oil. Add roughly chopped red capsicum and saute until soft & tender.
3	Add toasted sesame seeds, cumin seeds & red chillies into a mixer jar and grind into a powder. Then add sauteed capsicum & garlic and grind until pureed. Add chickpeas & salt and grind until combined. Finally add aquafaba, olive oil & lemon juice and blend until smooth & creamy.
4	Transfer to a bowl and garnish with finely chopped red capsicum, chickpeas & olive oil.

Green Hummus

1	Heat a pan with sesame oil in low flame. Add turmeric powder and fry for 10 sec. Add coriander leaves, saute for a minute and remove from heat.
2	Add coriander leaves, green chillies & garlic cloves into a mixer jar and pulse for few seconds. Then add chickpeas & salt and blitz until nicely ground. Add olive oil, aquafaba & lemon juice and blend until creamy.
3	Transfer to a bowl and garnish with coriander leaves, a few chickpeas, a swirl of olive oil, and a sprinkle of red chilli powder.

How to use hummus:

(i) Dip (or chutney):

We can use spicy hummus as a dip for vegetable sticks, chips, crackers, nachos, flatbreads, papdi (thattai), etc. and the same can be packed as snacks for children. This may also be considered as a healthy savory snack while watching TV or movie.

(ii) Bread toast:

(iii) Grilled sandwich:

(iv) Beetroot patty sandwich:

(v) Burger: