Hummus

I've been eating hummus lately.  My blood pressure leveled out and I know beans are supposed to be a natural healthy option (and losing weight), so I'm trying to up my fish and bean intake.  I bought a few store options and they're sort of boring, even those labeled as spicy.  I hear the "everything" option, akin to an everything bagel, makes some top 10 lists, so I still intend to try that.  As an experiment, I mixed some ghost curry power into a store bought dollop.  No good.  You can bury a LOT of ghost curry powder in store bought hummus to no effect.  And when you finally do get it to cut through, it tastes more like powder, less like hummus.

So I have made my own.  Anyone who knows me knows this is not exactly my thing.  But it seemed worth a try.  Most of the recipes out there are some variation of this (basic ingredient mix below).  I wanted to try this variation (video below), but finding dried peppers online is a little more difficult than I expected, at least Anaheim variety.  Ghost peppers, not so hard.  I suspect they aren't purchased as often.  And, with the USPS nonsense underway, I didn't want to wait for two weeks.

So I compromised.  Washed the garbanzo beans (what a pain, but in the end worth it).  Used a whole lemon (too much, although I wonder how other citrus bases would work, like a lime).  Used two cloves of garlic (too much, although if you're not going to eat hummus and make out with your vegan friend, maybe not an issue).  And then in addition to what's below added 1 t. of ground chipotle (fresh is probably better) and .5 t. (roughly, maybe a little more) of ghost curry powder from Savory Spice.

Outcome: better than the store bought.  Smoother, sharper flavors, and I can at least feel the heat although I erred on the side of caution and sampled it as I slowly added chipotle and ghost.  A few issues like the lemon and garlic amounts I used.  Just a little heat (in my opinion) without being overwhelming.  I may have to try real chipotle and ghost peppers (dried) and see if it's any different, although the curry aspect works pretty well and I may try some of the other Indian spice mixes I have from Penzey's as an alternative before I worry about that. It'd be good on naan, although as a general snack pita is a healthier option from a sheer calorie perspective.

1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas or 1 1/2 cups (250 grams) cooked chickpeas

1/4 cup (60 ml) fresh lemon juice (1 large lemon)

1/4 cup (60 ml) well-stirred tahini, see our homemade tahini recipe

1 small garlic clove, minced

2 tablespoons (30 ml) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Salt to taste

2 to 3 tablespoons (30 to 45 ml) water

Dash ground paprika or sumac, for serving