Spicy Hummus

Hummus, an ancient Arabic appetizer, took the western world by storm a few decades ago and is also available in India. 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. But I could not find the hummus with local flavors, and I have tried spicy hummus with the burst of flavors that suit our palates.

We can prepare hummus just like our spicy chutney with commonly available ingredients. I have prepared red hummus using red chillies & red capsicum, and green hummus using green chillies and coriander leaves. These local ingredients not only add the appetizing bright color but also add the spicy flavor. 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 of the herbs, and use the leaves & tender stems only.

**Turmeric powder is used to brighten up 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) & 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.

Spicy red hummus recipe

1	Heat a pan in medium flame. Add sesame seeds, cumin seeds & red chillies into the pan. Dry roast all these ingredients and remove the pan from heat. Spread them on a plate to cool down.
2	Again heat the same pan with sesame oil. Add roughly chopped red capsicum and saute until soft & tender.
3	Now add toasted sesame seeds, cumin seeds & red chillies into a mixer jar and grind into a powder. And then add sauteed capsicum & garlic and grind until pureed. Add chickpeas & salt and grind to combine together. Finally add Aquafaba, olive oil & lemon juice and blend until smooth & creamy.
4	Transfer red hummus to a bowl and garnish with finely chopped red capsicum, chickpeas & a dash of olive oil.

Spicy green hummus recipe

1	Heat a pan with sesame oil on low flame. Add turmeric powder and fry for 10 sec. Then add coriander leaves, saute for a minute and remove from heat.
2	Grind the coriander leaves, green chillies, garlic cloves, cooked chickpeas & salt into a smooth paste. Then add olive oil, Aquafaba & lemon juice and blend until creamy.
3	Transfer green hummus 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 spicy hummus:

(i) Dip (or chutney):

I have used hummus as a dip for vegetable sticks, chips, crackers, nachos, flatbreads, papdi (thattai), etc. It is a healthy savory snack or appetizer, and we can replace deep-fried snacks with these while watching TV.

(ii) Bread toast:

I have used hummus as a spread and also added into the filling.

(iii) Grilled sandwich:

(iv) Beetroot patty sandwich:

We can also add hummus into the patty dough for adding a delicious flavor.

(v) Burger: