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When I started to come round from my terrible illness that kept me bed ridden until late afternoon yesterday (see post) and I began to resemble a human again I decided to make some houmous. An odd choice I hear you say, why have something to eat that is nutty, garlicky and contains acidic lemon juice when you have a stomach so sensitive it needs counselling? There is only one answer, it was just what I fancied and when you are ill you need to satisfy your whims and wants.

A word of warning about making home made houmous. Tahini paste on it’s own is revolting, it smells a bit like peanut butter but does not taste like it so don’t stick the spoon in your mouth after you have scooped it out of the jar. It will make you retch.

Houmous

  • 285g can of chick peas, drained.
  • 100g tahini
  • Juice of 2-3 lemons
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Splash of cream.

Put the chick peas, garlic and tahini in a bowl and blend. If you are using a little hand blender like the one I have it may struggle (chick peas are surprisingly hard to blend) – the motor on mine got a bit too hot for my liking so a proper processor might be better.

Mix in the lemon juice a bit at a time. I used the juice of three lemons as I like it quite lemony but add enough to suit your taste.

The mix will still be quite stiff so keep adding olive oil a bit at a time to loosen.

Finally stir in a tablespoon of cream, pop it in a nice dish and sprinkle a bit of paprika over to garnish. Scoop up with  some roti bread.

Roti Bread

Roti bread is far too easy to make and goes brilliantly with dips such as houmous or tzatziki but is also the ideal companion for a fruity tagine or a curry.

  • 100g strong wholemeal bread flour
  • Pinch of salt
  • Warm water

Put the flour and salt in a bowl and make a little well in the centre of the flour. Add the water a bit at a time to bring the mix into a dough.

Divide the dough into 6, flour the work surface and roll out until they are about 3-4 mm thick.

Heat up a frying pan and dry cook each roti until for a few minutes on each side making sure that they don’t burn. You will get little pockets of air expanding in the dough which puff up during the cooking. Keep the roti warm while you cook the rest. Serve immediately.

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