Hummus

Hummus (or hummis or houmous) is a dip made of chickpea paste with various additions (such as olive oil, fresh garlic, lemon juice, and tahini). It is popular all over the Middle East, Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, and increasingly in countries such as the UK and the US. It is usually scooped up with flatbread (pieces of pita) to be eaten.

Hummus is relatively cheap to make at home. Many domestic hummus recipes use dried chickpeas as they are cheaper than canned chickpeas. The dried chickpeas must be soaked in water overnight and further simmered for an hour to cook them, before blending (eg with a hand blender or food processor) with the other ingredients. Garlic salt, cumin and chili powder make excellent flavoursome additions as well as the oil, lemon juice and tahini already mentioned.