Spicy Hummus

^[1]Everyone in my home loves hummus.  We eat it with everything,  especially at parties with appetizers.  The smooth texture and nutty taste is wonderful with the traditional garlic /lemon flavoring or hummus takes to spice combinations, like a fish to water.

One night about 6 years ago, I had the occasion to have dinner with my then college student son in San Diego.  We ate at this eclectic restaurant and the hummus was the best I ever tasted.  This is my version.

½ of a Spanish onion finely diced

1 inch of peeled grated fresh ginger root

4 garlic cloves minced

2 tablespoons of olive oil

4 and one half cups of drained cooked organic garbanzo beans

½ cup of tahini paste ^[2]

1 charred red bell pepper, peeled and seeded

2 tablespoons of tomato paste

1 tablespoons of garam masala ^[3]

2 tablespoons curry powder ^[4]

1 tablespoon of Balti seasoning ^[5](a kind of curry)

2 teaspoons salt

Juice of two lemons

½ cup of water

Preheat a sauté pan on medium and then add the oil.  Add the onions, ginger, and garlic to the sauté pan.  Sauté until the onions are translucent, taking care not to burn the garlic.

In a food processor, combine all the ingredients including the sautéed mix and process until smooth and spreadable.  You could add more or less water.  Store the hummus in a glass container in the refrigerator.  

A word about garbanzo beans.  You could use 3 sixteen ounce cans of garbanzos that you have drained or you could cook a 16 ounce package of dried garbanzos in about 3 quarts of water for about 3 hours.  Either way measure about 4 and ½ cups of garbanzos into the food processor.

Use fresh garlic that you peel and mince.  Make sure the garlic does not have any green stem.  I always take a smell of the garlic cloves I am going to use.  The good tasting ones have an entirely better smell then the ones with the green stems starting to come out.

Tahini keeps for a very long time in the refrigerator, so I buy the whole quart size jar and use it when I need it.

If you can’t find Balti seasoning, just use 2 tablespoons of garam masala.