Recipe: Hummus

Hummus

Ingredients:

1 19-oz can garbanzos, drained, liquid and 1/3 cup garbanzos reserved
2 or 3 garlic cloves (hummus should be somewhat milder than Baba Ghannouj
juice of 2 limes (or lemons)
1/4 to 1/3 cup tehina
1 1/2 tsps salt or to taste
For garnish: whole parsley leaves with 1/4" of stem left on and sweet paprika



Preparation:

In mortar, pound garlic with salt until reduced to a smooth paste. Place garlic-salt paste in food processor and add lime or lemon juice (I prefer lime) and tehina. Process on continuous. If dressing coagulates (citric acid will
do that to tehina), add JUST ENOUGH water, in a thin stream, until dressing reliquefies to a thick yet pourable texture (like heavy pancake batter).

Pour the garbanzos into the food processor bowl and process on pulse first, then on continuous, until a smooth and creamy, yet somewhat grainy puree is obtained. If it's too stiff, add a little of the garbanzos water to soften
it.

Smooth surface of hummus and decorate by scattering the reserved garbanzos on the hummus and sticking the parsley stems down in a regular pattern. Sprinkle a little paprika between the "florets". You may also drizzle a little bit of extra-virgin olive oil in tiny pools here and there on the surface. A favorite decoration in the Middle East is to draw a pattern with the forefinger and pour the olive oil in the groove thus created.