Roasted Garlic and Cilantro Hummus

I just concocted this hummus a short while ago and it turned out so perfect that I just had to note the recipe down before I forgot the ingredients. Yeah, it's happened before. So many delicious, made up recipes lost forever simply because I was too negligent to write them down immediately. Well, ain't gonna happen this time! :)

As usual, the quantities of the ingredients were my usual "splash of this dash of that", but I've tried to put down proper measurements for your benefit. So make sure you taste and adjust as required.

Hummus tastes best after sitting for a day. But if you must serve it on the same day, make sure you give it at least an hour in the fridge before serving.



1 C Quick Soaked and Cooked Chickpeas (throw out the soaking water and use fresh water to cook)
1/4 C Chopped Cilantro
2-3 bulbs Oven Roasted Garlic
1 medium Oven Roasted Onion
1/2 t Sesame Seeds
1/4 t Tamarind Paste
3/4 t Red Chilli Powder
1/2 t Amchoor Powder
1 T Nutritional Yeast
1/8 t Cumin Powder
1/4 C Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt

To roast the onion and garlic, rub them with olive oil and salt. Place them in a baking tray lined with aluminum foil. Cover them tightly with foil. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Bake for about an hour. Let them cool. Peel the onion and cut it into large cubes. Separate the garlic cloves and peel them.

For the hummus, cool and drain the chickpeas and keep the cooking liquid aside. Place all the ingredients, except olive oil, in a blender jar. Grind to a smooth paste by adding as much of the chickpeas cooking liquid as required, a little at a time. Taste and adjust seasonings. When it's a fluffy, liquidy paste, keep the grinder running and slowly drizzle the olive oil into the jar. This will emulsify the oil and give the hummus a creamier consistency.

Transfer to an airtight container and chill in the fridge to let the flavors get incorporated. Tastes great in the traditional falafel and pita wrap, but besides that the serving options are endless! Serve as a dip for vegetables, a spread or topping for breads (I've served it over home made corn bread in the picture) or eat straight out of a bowl. Enjoy! :)

Beet Hummus

When they invented the words "manna from heaven", THIS is what they must've taken a lick of. Beets take Hummus to a whole new level of orgasmic delight! I normally reserve the term "orgasmic" for only chocolate based foods, so you can see how serious I am about Beet Hummus.

It's just as simple to make as regular Hummus, so try it out for yourself and you'll know what I mean.

I want to shower a thousand blessings upon Julia for sharing the link of the original recipe with all of us at the EtsyVeg group. Until that moment, I had not fathomed the addition of Beets into Hummus. And now, my Hummus making days have changed forever!

As always, I tweaked the recipe a bit to suit my tastes. I've served it over organic red rice and topped it with a herb chutney (the green of the chutney looked so pretty with the deep pink of the hummus, I couldn't resist placing them together for the picture hehe). All of them tasted yummy together, but believe me when I say, the hummus tasted quite heavenly by itself too! You can just keep eating it in spoonfuls, straight from the container (like ice cream). So just be warned before you make some. :)



2 Medium Sized Beets - peeled, diced and cooked
2 Cups Cooked Chickpeas (I recommend starting with dry chick peas, soaking them using the Quick Soak Method* and then cooking them)
5-10 small cloves of garlic (depends on how garlicky you like it)
2-3 Shallots (Sambar Onions)
1 t Tahini (or dry roasted sesame seeds)
1/4 C Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 T Nutritional Yeast (optional)
To taste - red chilli flakes, coriander powder, salt, freshly squeezed lemon juice

Grind/Process everything together (except the olive oil). Use enough of the cooking liquid from the beets/chickpeas and blend everything to a smooth paste. With the food processor running, drizzle in the Olive Oil and continue to blend until it gets incorporated completely. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Use more of the cooking liquid and blend until desired consistency is reached. Put into an airtight container and store in the fridge.

Hummus tastes delicious soon after it's made but it tastes best after a day of sitting in the fridge because the flavors develop well by then.



*Quick Soak Method (can be used for all beans) - Bring a pot of water to boil. Wash beans and put into the boiling water. Turn off the heat and cover the pot. Let it sit for 1-4 hours. Drain and throw out the soaking water completely and wash the beans. This removes 80-90 % of the flatulence causing properties inherent in most beans, hence making them even more healthier. The beans are now ready to be cooked, either in a pressure cooker (much quicker) or in a pot of boiling water (takes a couple of hours depending on the type of bean involved).

Spicy Hummus Whole Wheat Ravioli in Mint Coconut Milk Sauce

One of those things I invented as I cooked and OMG were the results amazing! It has Italian, Mediterranean, East Asian and Indian flairs all mixed in. I think I outfusioned myself with this one. :D

Spicy Hummus Ravioli in Mint Coconut Milk Sauce

For the Spicy Hummus:

Quick-soaked, drained and cooked Chickpeas
Toasted Sesame Seeds
Smoked Chipotle Tabasco Sauce
Asian Super Spicy Chilli Paste
Olive Oil
Coriander Powder
Raw Garlic
Lime Juice
Nutritional Yeast (if available)
Salt

Blend everything together adding a little water at a time until it reaches a creamy consistency. I determine ingredient quantities by the "taste and add and taste and add" method.

For the Whole Wheat Ravioli:

2 C Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 t Salt
3 t Oil
Water

Mix the flour and salt together. Rub the oil into the flour. Add a little water at a time and knead well into an elastic-y dough. Cover and keep aside.

Bring a large pot of water to boil, add salt and let it continue to boil. Start preparing the ravioli on the side.

Pinch off large balls of dough and roll them out thin like tortillas/chapatis. Use a circular cookie cutter (or the edge of a steel tumbler) and cut out rounds. Take one circle and spoon a bit of the hummus into the centre, cover with a second circle. Carefully seal the edges. You can make little twists all around the side for extra safety.

Prepare all the ravioli and then put them into the boiling water gently. Cook for about 20 minutes on a medium flame. About 5 minutes into the cooking, stir carefully so that they don't stick together or break. Do this a few more times through the cooking process. And start preparing the sauce on the side as the Ravioli boils.

If a couple of the Ravioli's break during the boiling process try not to fret. I used the cooking water as a stock to make soup the next day. :)

For the Sauce:

Big bunch fresh Mint Leaves
Thick Coconut Milk (about 1 Cup)
Green Chillies
Pepper
Salt

Blend everything together into a creamy sauce consistency.

How to proceed:

Pour a bit of the sauce into a glass baking dish. Place the ravioli in layers and pour the sauce between each layer. And top it off with the rest of the sauce.

Bake in a regular oven at 200 C/ 400 F for about 40 minutes or in a microwave in the convection+micro mode for 20 minutes.

Serve hot, garnished with grated carrot.

Enjoy! :)