Hummus is a sesame seed and chick-pea dip originally from the Middle East. It is very popular in Britain, Germany and large parts of France, where you can buy it in every supermarket, yes even at the gas-stations!
Hummus, hommus, hummous, how it's spelled does not hide the fact that this is a truly delicious dish.

What do you need

5 dl chick-peas (dry weight)

Some of the cooking water

2 lemons

3 cloves of garlic

2 - 5 dl tahini¹

1 teaspoon of chili-powder (or a tbs. of chili sauce)

1 tablespoon of salt (ocean-salt is best)

1 tablespoon cumin

5dl = almost a pint

Preparation:

Chick-peas have to be soaked, 10 to 24 hours should do the trick. The volume increases two to three times, so be sure to use enough water and a large enough bowl.

Cooking time depends if you have hard or soft water. If you have soft water, 30 minutes is enough, if you have hard water it may take up to two hours. If the water is too hard you can add a half a teaspoon of baking powder pr. liter of water.

Chick-peas makes a lot of foam. (This is the stuff that makes us fart..) The easiest way to get a clear cooking water is to boil up for about five minutes and then throw away the cooking water, rinse the peas and add fresh water again.

To add to the flavor you can now add an onion and a carrot and/or a bay leaf and some peppercorns or a thyme- or rosemary-sprig.

After the peas are cooked.

Put the chick-peas in the food prossessor together with lemon juice and finely chopped garlic. Add the cooking water until you have a paste. Add tahini after taste (if you use the whole 5 dl the hummus will keep almost forever.)
Add the chili, cumin and the salt according to your own preferences.

Benefits of eating hummus

Hummus can be used as a dip or in sandwiches. Try hummus and pitta-bread.