Home Made Hummus

Well yesterday tried making Hummus at home for the first time. I must admit not a bad attempt at all. Well heres a simple recipe i found online. 

I am not repeating the recipe here. Please visit here for the recipe. What i have recounted is my experience so that it can help an amateur chef create this simple but delectable dip.

So the major flavor profile for Hummus are the following

Chick peas (1 cup boiled), In India they are called Chole.. So just soak a cup overnight and boil with some salt till done.  (In an Indian pressure cooker 10 mins or 1 whistle on full & 2 whistles on the sim should suffice).

Tahini (1/4 cup or 4 table spoons): That is a dip from the mid eastern cuisine. Now for creating this, take 2 table spoons of sesame (Til). Roast it over slow fire in a skillet till you get that nutty aroma and you can see the sesame getting light brown and oily. Let it cool and grind it. You can use a pestle or mortar.. I just used a blender.. use the small attachment used for spices.. 

Once the sesame seeds are ground add 2 tbl spoons of olive oil and again grind. Add some more till you get a slightly runny paste. In the end add a table spoon of good sesame oil and you have Tahini ready.

Lime or Lemon juice (2 Table spoons): Depends on your taste. Add it at the end a little at a time so that you can control the flavor

Chilli flakes (1/2 tsp): A little to spice it up 

Paprika (1/2 tsp): I had this with me so add some for the smoky flavor. Gives lovely color if just sprinkle it when you serve

Cumin powder (1/2 tsp): I always have some roasted cumin powder with me. I love the roasted cumin flavor. Gives a earthiness to any dish. So i added this. you can add the store bought one as well.

Few Table spoons of Olive oil : for the blend and to serve too

And Salt to taste. 

Optional: Some pomegranate seeds for serving. 

Directions:

Take a food processor or the chopper attachment of the Hand blender and add the cup of boiled chick peas. Run it through ( 30 secs) to get a rough paste. Be careful as it might get sticky and the motor will burn if its not a heavy duty one. Add the Tahini, 2 tbsp of olive oil, the salt, cumin, chilli flakes, paprika and run again. Add 1/4 cup of water if the chick pea has been sitting in the fridge and is a little dry. If freshly boiled, preserve the boiling water and use the same to get the desired consistency..

So thats it your hummus is ready.

My Tip: 

1. Don't add in all the spices in together, Keep checking the flavor and add salt or spice or Lime juice to your liking. 
2. To serve: Keep Hummus in a bowl make a shallow bowl shape. Sprinkle the pomegranate seeds on the sides and add a few spoons of Extra virgin Olive oil in the middle. You can also add one sprig of mint leaves to just add some extra color

So thats it. My version of this lovely dip. Bon Apetit

Thai Green Curry

Thai Green Curry is the easiest of recipes I have tried :)

What you need is :

400 ml of coconut milk
(You get cans of coconut milk and strangely they always come in cans of 400 ml)
45 gm of Thai Green Curry paste (u get this too in any shop now a days)

Total of 300 gms of vegetables or meat
to make 300 gms of vegetables use 2 small brinjals, 1 big carrot, 1 big Onion, quarter of a brocolli (if u have), quarter of a cauliflower, celery , few stems of spring onion .

For meat : you can use shredded pork or chicken or you can use prawns (All Half cooked with a bit of salt) . Prefer to mix some of the vegetables mentioned above and not just have pure meat or prawn in the curry. Spring onion,celery, Onions and Carrots

coriander leaves for garnishing

The vegetables can be cooked in the gravy itself n u dont need to pre-cook. Meat takes more time to cook so prefer to halk cook it in water with a lill of salt. Dont dd too much as the thai curry paste has salt already added to it.

Cooking Procedure:

Dice all the vegetables and shred the meat. Prawns if small go in full after u have cleaned them. If big cut it up. prefer to use smaller versions of the prawns.

Take 300 ml of the coconut milk and heat it over medium heat. After the coconut milk is warm add the thai greem curry paste (45 gms) The packet will come in 45gms sachet. Stir in the paste till mixed in properly.

Add the diced vegetables or the meat and mix well. Cook on medium to med-low flame for 10 mins. with the cover on. If you want a bit more spice add 2 chilies sliced longitudinally.

Put the flame to low and the rest 100 ml of the coconut milk. Add the chopped coriander leaves on top and cook for 5 more mins covered.

Your thai green curry is done. Eat with steamed rice

Reciepe for Chicken Curry

So lets start on a basic recipe for Chicken Curry:

Now coming for a vegeterian.. I would like to clarify that I am just a converted vegie and janab personally is responsible for the loss of life for many a chiks (the winged veriety)

So for a group of 4 1 kilo of chicken would suffice. Any thing less will not do justice to the hungry stomachs crying out for food. So the beauty of this simple recipe lies in the marination.

• Ask the butcher to make medium sized pieces. Dont Wash the chicken but do check for any wood pieces or foreign material. (may be you would like to remove the blood clots too)
  
• Take 200 ml curd, almost 1 teaspoon garam masala, Salt to taste and half a tea spoon turmeric. Add 1 table spoon each Garlic and Ginger paste to the curd too.
• Mix well with the cleaned chicken and keep covered in a cool place (preferably the Refrigerator) for 1 to 2 hours.
• Take oil in a heated pan and add 250 gms chopped onions
• Saute for a while till the onion turns golden brown
• Add 4/5 green chillies (sliced longitudinally) and fry further for 2 mins.
  
• Add the chicken mix (With the Marination) and cook and slow fire for 15 mins. Turn the mix occasionally.
• Cook till you can see the oil leaving the Masala.
• Add Water if you need curry and cook more for 5 mins. Once the checken is properly cooked and the curry has the right consistancy remove from fire.
  
• Garnish with chopped corriander and a little garam masala powder and keep it covered.
• Before serving just mix it well ans serve with chopped raw onion and a slices of lemmon.

Extra shots: If you want to add potatoes. Quarter them (with or without the peel as per your taste) and add them to the Onion in the pan just before you put the Chicken in. Let it fry a bit and then add the chicken. The other steps will be the same. Just ensure that you add a bit more salt to the curry as Potatoes will need a bit more salt.

Its better to estimate the salt on a lower end as you can add if needed. If salt is more then its difficult. Trick to solve that problem is to add pototoes and a spoon of lemon juice.

Hope this comes out really well. Do give your feedback and I can update the recipe with your comments.