do-it-yourself Hummus (in America!)

One of the hardest thing to find here is decent hummus. I am not such a big hummus fan, since the stuff you get at the stores is usually loaded with garlic, and it's just not worth it. I can really enjoy a good bowl of fresh-made hummus,but it usually means going to Abu Gosh or interrogating the local (TA) joints about their ingredients. Another option is to make it yourself, or have your brother do it.
In the US, it's a total different story. Some people are lucky enough to live next to a fairly large israeli or other mid-east communities, and find decent hummus.

The do-it-yourself option relies strongly on the quality of ingredients. So here's what you need to do if you do your shopping at Meijer's or Jewel-Osco. It's a simple recipe that doesn't require long soaking or cooking...

Ingredients:
1 can of chick peas
1/3 cup of raw tahini paste
juice from 1/2 lemon
water
olive oil
salt&pepper
paprica (for decoration)


drain and rinse the chick peas in warm water. with two fingers, pinch each pea and remove the skin. save a couple of spoons of peas for decoration, and put the rest in a food processor.
turn the food processor on, and gradually add the tahini paste, lemon juice, and about 1/3 cup of water. add water to the desired consistency. hummus will solidify a bit in time, so if you don't eat it right away make it slightly more runny.
add about 2 spoons of olive oil (try to get high quality oil), some salt&pepper, and you're done!

for decoration: you know - spread on a flat plate, sprinkle olive oil, paprica, and some whole chick peas.

Beteavon!!



These are the ingredients I used; notice that we ate the hummus with crackers and not the traditional pita - good pitas are nowhere to be found around here...