Red Capsicum & Olive dip

I had a lonely red capsicum lurking in fridge for a long while, thought of making a dip / chutney of sorts. So here is the recipe for a  simple and amazingly tasty dip. Have it with breads , chips , sliced vegetables , anything you like really ..its always awesome ! 

You need :

Red capsicum - 1  

Green Olives (pitted) - 6/7

Garlic - 2/3 cloves

Olive oil - 2 table spoon 

The process :

Clean red capsicum and lightly coat with olive oil and roast on stove / oven till the outer skin is charred 

Once the skin is lightly charred remove from heat , let it cool a little 

When cool enough to handle , slit in half , remove the seeds from inside and the charred outer skin.

You can also run it under tap water to remove both skin and seeds

Now Chuck all the ingredients in a mixer / blender , blend to a paste / chutney like consistency.

Try this and let me know how you like it.

(P.S. I didn't add any salt because olive was cured in brine so had enough salt, adjust salt according to your need) 

From my middle eastern kitchen - Hummus

After many attempts in making hummus , I have finally figured out a recipe which in my husband's opinion is 'pretty close' 

to perfect ones.

So here is what you need for this 'pretty close to perfect hummus recipe'

Dry Chickpea - 1 cup

Olive oil - lots (almost half a cup)

Garlic -3/4 fat cloves

Seasme seeds - 1 tablespoon 

Salt to taste

And 2 back to back episode of your fav tv series - this is important, I will tell you when I come to it.

Now the perp 

Soak sesame seeds overnight or atleast couple of hours, drain and keep aside.

Soak chickpeas overnight ( at least 12-14 hours), drain extra water and put it in pressure cooker to cook for 1 whistle.

Once cool enough to handle drain out all water and remove each chickpea shell. This is where those tv episodes come in handy, shelling chickpeas is quiet mindnumbing  you better put that tv series on:) and dont try to skip it, this is vitally important for the silky smooth texture.

Now in a blender, add chickpeas , sesame seeds, garlic pods, salt and olive and blend really well on highest possible setting.

Keep adding olive oil when you feel mixture drying up.

You really really have blend well , I mean once you think you are done add little olive oil and blend for 5 more mins. You would definitely get that super smooth silky texture if you really blend well...and that's it you are done.

This is the basic version, and in my opinion the best, we have it with pita breads, in sandwich as a dip with tacos or just like that ... All time fav !