To speak honestly, the first time I had lebanese food when I came to Dubai in 2011, it didn’t appease my Indian taste buds. I found the much famous hummus very bland which lacked spicy flavors that I always digged in Indian, Chinese,Thai or Italian dishes. That was it. Few months forward when I was pregnant, I couldn’t stand the sight of most of the food because of the complicated relationship I had with different variants of dishes and the way it would be presented on a plate, mainly meat. Another year forward, when I came out from all my inhibitions, I was ready to give lebanese food a go on my son’s half birthday, that is celebrating his six months birthday with a small family get together at Beirut restaurant in Satwa and I fell in love with the flavors that tickled on my tongue, aromas that entered my nostrils and food that went down the stomach.
It is amlost impossible to ignore lebanese cuisine when you are living in Gulf. And all the more difficult if you are surrounded by people who love eating out at fancy lebanese joint almost every weekend especially during the month of Ramadan. There is still huge variety which I have to get accustomed to apart from arayees, hummus, tabouleh, sheeh taouk, manakeesh, moussaka, shawarma, falafel which is more of what we order when we are eating out. Beiruti hummus was recommended by one of our friends just couple of months back and now I can’t even describe the love for it.
Beiruti hummus can be eaten with pita breads drizzled with olive oil or serve it as a dip with any fried dish. That’s what I did. We first ate with our fresh pitas for lunch and on the next day I served it to my friends as a dip with some home-made falafels. Or it will taste amazing as a side dish and a spread for sandwiches. The recipe is simple and calls for chickpeas, parsley, tahini paste and garlic as main ingredients.
Hummus Beiruti
- Servings: 4
- Time: 30 mins
- Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients :
- Chickpeas – 2 cups, soaked overnight
- Tahini paste – 6 tbsps
- Garlic cloves – 8 to 10
- Parsley – 1 tbsp
- Green Chillies – 1 tsp, chopped
- Cumin Powder – 1tsp
- Salt – to taste
- Juice from 1 lemon
- Olive Oil – 1/2 cup
Method -
Soak chickpeas overnight. Next morning pressure cook until soft. Drain and set aside to cool. In a bowl of food processor or in the blender, grind garlic, green chillies and parsley. Add in chick peas with about 2 tbsp of olive oil and grind to a fine paste. Add tahini paste, salt, cumin powder and lemon juice. Grind to a very smooth paste and refrigerate till it is the time to serve.
