Around the World in 12 Dishes: Egypt – Hummus

I am happy to be back with Around the World in 12 Dishes post from last month when we travelled to Egypt! Around the World in 12 Dishes : season 2 was originally created by Glittering Muffins and there are total of 13 blogs participating in this project. The idea is to “visit” 1 country a month (12 countries in a year) by exploring the cooking culture and craft. We all cook 1 (or more) dish with our children and some of us make crafts.

When we think Arabic food, there are so many things: kebabs, salads, pita bread and of course – hummus. Did you know that hummus is thought to be originally from Egypt? It is a very simple dip for vegetables and bread which is popular in many Arabic and Middle Eastern countries.

I make hummus at home by myself and my recipe is very simple. Since we don’t get here tahini (sesame paste) or raw chick peas (which are main ingredients for hummus), I use canned chick peas and I make tahini myself. When you prepare tahini at home, you can keep it up to 3 months at the back of your fridge. You can probably freeze it too but I’ve never tried it so I can’t assure you whether it is fine or not.

Tahini 

What you need:

5 cups of raw sesame seeds

1-1.5 cups of olive or any vegetable oil

How to make it:

Roast sesame seeds in the oven or on the frying pan till start browning, but don’t let them get too brown. Mix frequently with a spoon or a spatula. Take about 5-10 mins. Cool them completely down.

Add the seeds and oil into blender/grinder and blend until you get an even thick but possible to pour out paste. Add a bit more oil if necessary (but in my experience 1.5 cups is plenty!). Put in a jar and store at the back of your fridge.

Hummus:

I will share the basic hummus recipe. You can also add herbs, spices and garlic according to your tastes.

What you need:

1 can of chick peas (drain but keep the juice)

2-3 tablespoons of tahini paste

2-4 tablespoons of lemon juice

some salt

2 tablespoons of olive oil

How to make it:

Pour chick peas into the blender, add tahini, salt and lemon juice, add half of the chick peas juice. Blend it till you get a nice thick paste. See if you need to add more juice from chick peas.

Spread it on the plate and decorate with olive oil, paprika and chopped coriander or parsley.

If you don’t have an access to pita bread, you can make your own. I usually make chapati which are somewhat like pita bread and are very easy to make.

Chapati

What you need:

2 cups of flour

1-2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

enough water

 :

Roll the dough until smooth and doesn’t stick to your hands. Take small pieces of dough and roll thin cirles. Heat up the frying pan and fry chapatis. Once one side starts getting brown, quickly turn to the other side and when starts puffing up, press the ends into the frying pan with a clean towel (something like wiping on top of the chapati). It takes about 20-30 seconds for it to be done. No oil needed on the pan. Keep in the towel and serve warm with hummus or any other dips and dishes.

My little helper was right there with me while I was cooking. She decided to play shop and kept putting spices into her bag and taking them in and out of the kitchen!

Check the other blogs of “Around the World in 12 Dishes” for their Egypt creations:

Adventures In Mommydom, All Done Monkey, Crafty Moms Share, Creative Family Fun, Creative World of Varya, Glittering Muffins, Here Come The Girls, Juggling with Kids, Kid World Citizen, Kitchen Counter Chronicles, Mermaids’ Makings, The Educators’ Spin On It and The Hands-On Homeschooler

If you do this, we’d LOVE to see a photo of it. Like us Facebook and upload your picture there!

Please link up your Egyptian dish and/or craft in our linky below, we would love to see it!