Homemade Houmous / Hummus

Nearly all of my vegan friends are huge lovers of chickpeas, but whilst I can tolerate them in a dish, they don't really rock my world.  Strangely though, I absolutely love them when they're whizzed together and made into houmous.  Now houmous is something I could eat every day!  If you're a fan, I strongly urge you to ditch the supermarket / shop varieties and have a go at making it from scratch yourself.  It's unbelievably quick and easy to do, and trust me when I say it tastes a million times better.  It really does!  

Ingredients:-

- 400g can of good quality chickpeas (preferably organic), rinsed and drained 

- 2 tbsp tahini paste

- 2 garlic cloves, very finely chopped or crushed

- 1/2 tsp ground cumin

- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (you can use more if desired)

- freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon

- 1 tsp smoked paprika to serve with (optional)

How to: - 

1.  Place the chickpeas into a food processor, and then add in all of the other ingredients on top.

2.  Blend on a medium speed for a few minutes until everything is thoroughly blended, and so that it has a smooth overall texture.

3.  Place in a bowl and sprinkle over the smoked paprika if desired. 

4.  Serve with your favourite crudites and pitta chips, use as a spread in pittas, or with some falafels.  Keeps for up to 3 days in the fridge.

This recipe was adapted from one a friend picked up when she was travelling through Palestine last year.  The original version uses mint leaves, more olive oil and less tahini, so it's a very easy recipe to adapt to your own tastebuds.  Changing the texture is also easy; just add more olive oil, lemon juice, or cold water if you want it more runny, and less if you want it to be thicker. You can also try adding herbs, different spices like cayenne pepper and rock salt to season it further.