Waiting, waiting for spring! Green garbanzo hummus

After this past bone chilling cold winter, I'd promised myself that I would not say a word or whine about the weather no matter how blazing hot the summer got. Now, I'm beginning to think that I may not have to worry about breaking that promise. The cold weather never seems to be ending!
This time of the year brings with it a slew of some special produce produce. Blink & they're gone for the year. While I wait for the first bunches of ramps to make their appearance, I'm enjoying the bountiful supply of fresh, tender green garbanzos.

There's no dearth of dishes that this delightful produce can be the star of. Grilled and served up with a sprinkle of sea salt,

or, sauteed with fresh coconut & slivers of raw mango, spiced up with a fiery tempering of mustard & curry leaves.

The list could go on & on & on...

I'm addicted to Hummus, but often succumb to picking up a tub from the supermarket simply because when the craving strikes, I dont have time to soak and cook up the beans before whipping up some great home made dip. So, on the last trip to the Indian grocery store (where these green garbanzos are currently in season) , I resolved to dedicate the latest bag's worth to making hummus, (or at least trying to). The end result far exceeded my expectation.
Green garbanzos have a light buttery texture when steamed, and this confers a delicate creaminess to the hummus (as opposed to the hint of mealy starch that the hydrated dried garbanzo beans bring to the dish).

The flavor of the beans is quite delicate, so I went easy on the Tahini so that the flavor of the sesame did not take center stage. Since the beans have an inherent buttery texture, the amount of tahini can be minimized. The ice cold water added to the hummus is a technique I learned from Chef Sami Tamimi's recipe from 'Jerusalem', the book he co authored with Yotam Ottolenghi.

Green Garbanzo Hummus: (Makes about 2 1/2 cups)

You need:
2 cups freshly shucked green garbanzo
2 heaped tablespoons Tahini Paste
1 clove garlic, peeled and smashed
1 green Serrano chili minced
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Salt to taste
1/2 cup ice cold chilled water.

Steam the green garbanzos for about 7-10 minutes until its soft but not mushy . Allow it to cool slightly and add it into the bowl of a food processor along with the garlic and minced green chile. Pulse & run the processor until the garbanzos are almost pulverized.
Now add the Tahini along with the lemon juice and salt and run the processor until the ingredients combine.
Drizzle just enough of the ice cold water while the machine is running so that the hummus consistency turns creamy. Transfer the hummus into a container and allow to rest in the fridge for about an hour to let the flavors develop. ( the garlic needs this time to mellow down).

Serve at room temperature with Pita chips or pretzels or slather generously on a slice of good bread. I like to sprinkle the hummus with a pinch of Sumac or Aleppo pepper for an extra kick of flavor.

Bon Appetit!

Unusual Ingredients - Unripe Blueberry Achar

T'was just another Summer afternoon, The kids were home for the summer holidays, getting bored, there's only so much summer reading you can force them to do, and the Indian mommy in me could no longer caution them against going out in the afternoon (I've solemnly refused to use that horrid excuse of 'You'll get a dark tan if you stay out in the mid day sun'), and so we decided to head out to Terhune orchards for the blueberry picking. The kids never say no to outings to the orchard, they LOVE the trip there, the cute yellow dogs and the cats, the chocolate crinkle and Snickerdoodle cookies, and they positively trip over grabbing buckets and heading joyfully towards the berry bushes... ... And there it ends, the younger one loses herself in her delightful imaginary worlds where she probably thinks she's hacking her way through virgin Amazon jungle, sighing at every branch that brushes against her legs, picks 2 or 3 berries as if they were a new as

Sputtering back....

I seriously feel like this scene from the movie 3 idiots .. remember this one? The way I kept racking up drafts and eventually stopped doing that as well. Lulled into complacence by the quick high from Instagram posts. Recipe measurements hastily scribbled into a Moleskine notebook faithfully depending upon my moods. The truth is that I keep over thinking the backstories needed to make the post more interesting while in reality the truth is that ideas and inspirations just occur spontaneously (like little itches , sneezes or twitches) whenever the opportunity happens to strike. Some really cool ideas that scare the beejeezus out of me and yet prove to be utterly delightful and simple in the end. Others, that seem so trivial that I feel it wouldn't be worth crowing about -- even if there are enough other recipes in that genre that get so much publicity simply because the author happens to have the right marketing knack. So in the past 4 years that I've been

Product Review: Ninja Mega Kitchen system and a recipe for Masala Dosa

One of the biggest reasons for attending conferences is the priceless experience of meeting fellow bloggers and get an invaluable exposure to all things culinary. This includes vendors with new products to savor and get inspiration from. I had no complaints about whatever appliances I had for making traditional Dosa (Traditional South Indian rice & lentil crepes) batter, a sturdy tabletop stone grinder that you could add the Urad dal, turn the timer on , and 30 minutes later, come back to a container full of fluffy, batter with the consistency of whipped egg whites. The The cons of this is the cleaning up, of the various parts, the roller, the grinding bin, the multiple trays on which the rollers need to be placed while transferring the rice & lentil batter, the invariable drips of thick batter on the counter.... you get the point, It takes quite a bit of time. I was pleasantly surprised when the appliance company, Ninja asked me if I'd like to try any of their

Anjali KoliApril 1, 2014 at 2:17 PM
Such a beyootiful dish! If this isn't gourmet stuff, what is?!
Sandhya HariharanApril 2, 2014 at 8:03 AM
Such a delectable hummous... Its our hot fav dish,.. I m loving the twist...

I am returning to blogging after a break .Do visit my space when time permits!
shyamApril 12, 2014 at 6:49 AM
Are you meant to shell the green chickpeas, or can you eat them as they are, Niv? It took bleddy AGES to shell them, the last (and first) time I bought green chickpeas in Jan. Do you know of any easy way to shell 'em? I've never had them or seen 'em in the flesh before :)

Panfusine

Search This Blog