Sunday 6 February 2011

Coriander and Lime Hummus

I've been having a bit of a hummus revival the past few weeks! I've been soaking and cooking chickpeas for the first time in at least 20 years, and greatly enjoying it. I've learnt that cooking a whole packet of chickpeas is really a bit much when you just want enough for a 400gm tin. Half a pack is enough for that, and you still have some left overs for adding to salads, without having to eat chickpeas twice a day all week.

I've long wanted to try flavoured hummus but never really got around to it. I've made this recipe twice. Once using lemon juice and tahini, the second time using lime juice and peanut butter. Both were good. But the lime version was greener, punchier, much more tasty, and absolutely delicious. And will keep the scurvy at bay....



With some pita crisps or crudites it makes excellent nibblies for friends or a great work lunch.

Coriander to Australians is what Americans would call cilantro. I absolutely love coriander- can't get enough of it. I pile it thickly in a layer on sandwiches, and particularly love it in combination with avocado and sweet chilli sauce. I've never understood why some people seem to dislike it- I always thought that they were just strange! But this recent article in the New York Times helps explain why some poor people just can't eat it! I must say I would almost find that to be a disability.

Coriander and Lime Hummus

The leaves from a good sized bunch of coriander (about 1 cup firmly packed fresh coriander leaves)
2 cloves garlic, quartered
400g cooked chickpeas, drained (or 400gm tin chickpeas, rinsed, drained)
2 tblsp (40ml) olive oil
1 1/2 tblsp (30ml) lime juice
1 tblsp (20ml) peanut butter
3 tsp sweet chili sauce
1 tsp ground cumin
Sea salt and ground black pepper to taste


Process the coriander and garlic until finely chopped.



Add the remaining ingredients; process until almost smooth. Season to taste.



Notes
Adapted from a recipe in the Australian Women's Weekly November 2010. The recipe originally had lemon juice and tahini, but I had a heap of limes in the vegie crisper and thought it would be interesting to try that, particularly in light of my recent Peanut Butter Hummus Triumph. The lemon/ tahini version was nice, but didn't quite sing as much as the lime/peanut butter version. The lime version was also moister than the lemon one, not sure why. With the lemon one I had to add a bit more oil and lemon juice, and still got a relatively dry consistency. This one was perfect as is.

Lemon tahini coriander hummus



The original recipe had 2 tsp of sweet chilli sauce, which wasn't quite enough. I tried 3 tsp the second time I made it. Still not quite there. I'm nearly out of sweet chilli sauce at the moment. But after I replenish stocks, next time I'll try a tablespoon, to give it a bit more zing.

I will only eat one brand of sweet chilli sauce, which sadly isn't available in my patch of small town Australia. I'm looking forward to stocking up on an upcoming trip to Sydney.

5 comments:

  1. I have evolved from being an absolute purist regarding hummus (it had to be the classic Lebanese hummus) to now I am intrigued by all the versions and the creativity that this humble dip from our neck of the woods seems to provoke; I also adore cilantro (but then in lebanon everybody does) and find your version with the peanut butter very enticing; I will keep it in mind next time I make some hummus and see what kind of response i get! :)
    Cheers, J.

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  2. Oh Joumana- how incredible! I would be astonished and proud and thrilled if you made a very non-traditional Australian hummus in Lebanon! I think hummus is so incredibly versatile that there can be many, many versions, and they are usually pretty good. You do need to be a non-purist though. I'll be really interested to see how your friends and family like it. BTW I bought some rice flour yesterday so that I can make your rice flour biscuits some time soon- they sound amazing.

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  3. This sounds so tasty, I must try it. Thanks for the link. I have added a link to this recipe on my recent post. Thanks.

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  4. I made this for post race food yesterday. It was a hit with the runners. I love the lime. I'll be making it again for them on Sunday. thanks.

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  5. Oh I'm so pleased you liked it Heather! I loved it too. Must make it again soon. Although recently I've been seeing recipes for sweet hummus around online, and I must say that they have me intrigued.....

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