Hummus needs no introduction. Or does it? I just love this creamy, boldly flavored dip and can lap it up in any number of ways – with chips, in sandwiches, on salads, in wraps etc. There are many kinds of hummus – the smoky Baba Ghanouj, or roasted red pepper hummus or sun dried tomato hummus, and I like them all. But today I am going to focus on the basic recipe.

The good thing with hummus is that it is made with ingredients that are easily available in India – the humble chana– and most of them are already a part of the Indian pantry. Except maybe extra virgin olive oil and good paprika. Good Olive oil is a must to get that fruity flavor. You can use bottled tahini if it is readily available. I use fresh roasted sesame seeds – it is just easier since we almost always have sesame seeds and making a fresh sesame seed paste means you minimize any additives as compared to the bottled version. I use fresh garlic and lemon juice rather than bottled variants, but they can be used for a quick semi homemade fix.

Just like the falafel recipe which I blogged about earlier, this is very easy to make and can be served in different ways.

How thick or loose should the hummus be? I think it depends on personal preference, and also on what you are using it with. If you want it to coat a chip or vegetable sticks, it needs to be drop consistency. I like adding chopped parsley sometimes, but I add it at the end so that the small bits run through the dip, and not while processing the hummus. My appliance of choice for making hummus is a food processor because it allows me to add in things like olives or sun dried tomatoes later and mix them in without completely pureeing them.

The next time you feel like a mezze platter, or want a healthy spread for a sandwich, try making this super easy hummus at home.