Turmeric hummus

 

The turmeric cookbook, 128pp.
recipes by Nicole Pisani, Oliver Pagani and Gosia Zielony
Aster, Octopus Publishing, London, 2017
Cooking on pages 32–33

The wonderful properties of turmeric have been touted a lot over the last few years, and I use it several times a week. Should probably use it even more.

This cookbook covers 50 recipes that use turmeric for breakfast, snacks, soups, vegetarian dishes, meat and seafood dishes, sweets, drinks and even beauty products.

I make hummus often and never thought to add turmeric. Here goes.

Turmeric hummus

Ingredients
400g can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon mild chilli powder
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
2 tablespoons tahini
1 teaspoon sea salt flakes
2 tablespoons water (or more if needed)

Method
Put all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth, scraping down the sides of the processor as you go. Add more water if needed to get the right consistency.

Transfer to a bowl and add a drizzle of honey or olive oil. Garnish with a sprinkling of spiced and roasted seeds and a handful of microherbs. Serve with oatcakes, if liked.

How it played out
Give me a food processor and I can turn out a dip in next to no time. So that’s what I did with this recipe.

I added one very special ingredient. Our daughter, Libby, lived in France for several years and brought me a bag of the country’s amazing Sel de Guérande, a fantastic sea salt. I also garnished with toasted pine nuts and almond silvers, as well as thyme leaves from the garden. Took it all to a friend’s house to share before dinner.

Verdict
A delicious version of hummus and one that I will make often. So easy and so delicious. But I’ll confess that it was even tastier the next day. Very much worth making a day ahead.

Travel
Hummus is a popular dish from the Middle East. We lived in Syria for several years in the early 1980s.

The Krak des Chevaliers was one of my favourite places to visit. We were lucky enough to revisit it in 2009. I hope it’s still mostly standing.