Aaha Oho: 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.