Garlic Hummus

From the day 1 of my visit to a neighborhood restaurant 'Aladdin Gyro-cery', i started having an affair with the gyros, falafel, pita breads, baba ghanoush and hummus. Did i say the whole menu? Looks like i did. Oops! missed the dessert, moist baklava and lovely basbousa. Me & Senthil love to dine there. They serve this awesome hummus with the falafel plate and pita breads. It tastes  so good, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with sumac. Wondering what sumac is? 'Sumac' is a shrub, which produce sumac bobs,a dark-red fruit cluster with a seed at the center. They are ground and used as a spice to give a tangy, lemony taste. The chickpeas are a great source of protein and dietary fiber, totally healthy.

Coming to the recipe, i used few extra garlic pods to make hummus, garlicky. Also, I sprinkled paprika, as i didn't have sumac in my pantry. There are quite a number of add-ins along with other ingredients, one reader suggested adding 'garam masala powder', that's an awesome idea of making hummus 'Indian style'. You be creative. My garlic hummus tasted very good with soft pita pocket breads, we just scooped up the dip and every mouthful was a moment to treasure. Next time, am gonna add few more garlic pods and make Extra Garlic Hummus.

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked /1 16oz can Garbanzo beans (Chickpea)

6 pods Garlic

1/4 cup Lemon juice

1/3 cup Tahini paste

3/4-1 cup Water

1tsp Cumin powder

1-2tbsp Olive oil

Salt

Paprika, Cilantro (for garnishing)

How to:

• Blend together the garbanzo beans, garlic, lemon juice, tahini, cumin powder and water along with salt. 

• Pour the water 1/4 cup at a time to find the right consistency. Also taste as you go along and add salt as needed. You can also add 1/2 of the olive oil while blending, for a smooth textured dip.
• Transfer the blended mixture to a serving plate or bowl, swirl it with a fork, sprinkle some paprika for bright color, drizzle the remaining olive oil and garnish with chopped cilantro.

Serve with pita breads or chips.


I thought, i would add this banner for my readers to understand that the recipe is completely healthy.

Sending this dish to the following events:


A.W.E.D.MENU hosted by niloufer started by DK

CWF: LB - Chickpeas hosted by Nithu and started by Kiran


MLLA 27 an event by Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook.

Whole Wheat Pita Bread

Pita is a round pocket bread consumed in Middle eastern and Mediterranean cuisines, which are considered as a staple. These are also called as  Pita pockets. The pockets are created by the steam, which puffs up the dough. The pocket is left in the middle, after the pita is cooled and flatten. This bread can be made on a grill, any oven or even on stove top. This bread is served as an appetizer in Mediterranean restaurants. 

The ingredients are simple and i replaced 1/2 of the all purpose flour with whole wheat flour for a healthier version of the bread. The sweet smell of freshly baked bread is so warm and comforting. This bread is very easy to make and very filling dish for your breakfast or dinner served with a dip. When you cut the pita into half, you can see the pocket, where you can fill anything to form a sandwich and serve with a salad. Alright, here goes the recipe,

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Whole Wheat flour

1 1/2 cups All purpose flour

1 1/4 + 1/4 cups warm Water 

1 packet Quick rise Yeast

1tsp Sugar

1tsp Salt

2tsp Olive oil

How to:

• In a bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in 1 1/4 cup of water and let sit for 10 mins, until frothy.

• In another big bowl, add the flours and salt together and mix well.
• Now make a well at the center of the flours and pour the yeast mixture.
• Start kneading and bring the dry flours together, pour the remaining water 1tbsp at a time and knead, resulting a slightly sticky dough.

• Then, transfer the dough to a flour-dusted surface and continue kneading for 8-10 mins, until the dough is smooth and elastic.

• Wrap the dough in a bowl coated with olive oil for 1 1/2hrs in a warm place, until the dough doubles.

• Punch the dough to remove excess air, knead for a min and divide the dough into lemon-size balls.

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees with the baking sheet in the lower rack of oven.
• Make flat-round shapes with a rolling pin and wrap it up with a kitchen towel for 10-15 mins for the dough to rise again.

• Either line the baking sheet with parchment paper or spray thin layer of oil.

• Place the risen flat doughs and bake for 4 mins, flip it and bake for another 3 mins or until brown spots appear.

• Watch the dough puffing up because of the steam.

• For softer pitas, wrap'em in a kitchen towel, once out of oven. For crispy pitas bake'em couple more mins.

Serve warm with hummus or baba ghanoush.

Tips:

• The olive oil helps in handling the dough and uses very less flour while rolling flat.
• You can also broil the pita at Hi, with pitas on the baking sheet at the top rack of the oven, broil for 2 mins, flip it and broil for another 1 1/2 mins. 

• Store the pitas in a zipper bag up to a week at room temperature or freeze'em for up to 3 months.