Hummus, flat bread



For the hummus:

*  Garbanzo beans (chickpeas) dried.  Canned beans can be used but I never tried them.  Soak overnight.  Cook in salted water.  Pressure cooker is fine and rapid. Garbanzo beans can be eaten raw but cooking them results in a smoother product.  I had no idea until I tried this just how good salted garbanzo beans are all by themselves.  I enhanced a bowl of cooked beans with olive oil, basil, and peppper, but frankly, it wasn't much of an improvement over straight salted cooked garbanzo beans.

* Tahini.  Tahini is like peanut butter made from sesame seeds.  In fact, peanut butter can be substituted.

*  Olive Oil

* Garlic, crushed and onion, chopped, salt and pepper to taste

* Lime juice.  I actually went outside, crossed the street and scored a sack of limes just to make this hummus.  I probably could have used vinegar but I didn't want that.  

* Process with some of the cooking or soaking water into a loose paste.  


For the flat bread.

* 1/2 Cup water

* 1/4 teaspoon dry yeast

* 1 Cup shifted flour

* 1/8 teaspoon salt

* 1 teaspoon brown sugar (yeast food) 

Roll out into four exceedingly flat discs.  Cover and allow to rise.  Don't concern yourself with it rising.  It doesn't actually have to, just let the dough rest if you're in a hurry, it doesn't matter.  Fry for a few minutes and flip.  Weight down with a pot while it fries when it puffs up. Mine burned a little here and there but I don't care.

I recommend popping a few beano tablets before eating a pile of this stuff. 
They are beans, after all.  

This dish is indescribably delicious.  Therefore, allow me to describe it.  You can make it into whate ever you wish.  I went heavy on Ras el Hanout and ground sumac, which are two spices I picked up for experimental purposes. There are 1,000 different curries, you could spend the rest of your life experimenting with them.  My original idea was to add jalapeño peppers but I switched mid-stream. I still might add them to the remainder, just for some BANG! It goes well with cheese, nearly any herb, and toasted nuts. You can use it for dip, a snack, or make a meal of it. The fiber quotient is off the charts.

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