The first thing I had to check up on was the spelling. I’d always spelled it houmous and after doing a quick search discovered a multitude of alternative spellings. Not wanting to spend too much time researching the origins for a definitive answer I turned to she who knows everything in the kitchen – Darina Allen (Ballymaloe Cookery School). If Darina spells it Hummus then Hummus it is.
Hummus emerged into my world some time in the 1990s. It was fine. Nothing very exciting about it, filled you up a bit and was somewhere to dip your chip at a party and that was about it. But then I discovered that I like chickpeas. I like them in salads, in soups and in spicy chicken dishes so perhaps it was time to revisit hummus. I can’t source tahini paste (made from sesame seeds) easily and purists may argue that it isn’t hummus without it but in my recipes I leave it out. I decided to give it a good kick of flavour in the form of roasted red pepper and it was delicious. The recipe that I am posting here is made with caramelised red onions and there is a reason why I came up with that.
There is An American in Ireland ( http://anamericaninireland.com/ )who loves her Caramelised Red Onion Hummus and a recent tweet of distress went out when it was no longer being stocked at her local supermarket. She was so happy when it came back on the shelves that she tweeted a picture of it. So this recipe is especially for Clare – that you may never run out of Caramelised Red Onion Hummus!
You will need:
2 medium red onions
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp dark muscovado sugar (or any dark brown sugar)
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 x 220g can of chickpeas
1 garlic clove
3tbsp greek yoghurt
1 tsp olive oil
Method:
Peel and thinly slice the red onions.
Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan over a low heat and gently soften the onions for 10 minutes.
Raise the heat to medium and add in the balsamic vinegar and muscovado sugar, stir well and cook for 3 to 4 minutes and set aside.
Drain and rinse the chickpeas and place in a mini chopper or food processor.
Add the crushed garlic and 3 tbsp greek yoghurt with 1 tsp olive oil.
Add the red onion mixture in on top and blitz well until smooth.
Serve with wholemeal pitta chips and vegetable batons.
Enjoy!
Til next time, Sheila.