My aunt Sonia Mehta,  who has motivated me to cook, taught me how to break recipes by eating them, memorizing them and experimenting them at home. She has been a great contributor to my sense of good food and authentic taste. She, being an extensive traveler and a food explorer tells me what to eat and where to eat.

She advised us to try Lebanese food at Edgeware road when Sid and me where visiting London.  This place has the most authentic vegetarian Lebanese food. This lane is full of Lebanese restaurants, all run by immigrant families. We went to a restaurant called Fatoush, on a hot summer day. This was an open place and the people serving us did not even know English but they had a smile on their faces, and with sign language we ordered our food. This meal was an eye opener for us in authentic Lebanese food. Sid and me just could not get over that lunch, till today it’s taste lingers in our memory.

That’s when I realized hummus was so wrongly served in most of the restaurants in most of the countries. The secret of an authentic hummus is in its creaminess, it has lots of curd in it and has very less garlic.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups boiled chickpeas

1 cup thick curds

4 cloves of garlic

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp lemon juice

salt to taste

olive oil and cayenne pepper to garnish

METHOD:

Add 1/2 cup curd  and rest of the ingredients in a mixer and blend.Keep on adding the curds till the consistency is creamy and all the ingredients are mixed well [add water if required]

This is a great dip with cucumber, carrots, beat root, pita bread. It can be eaten as a spread in falafel or sandwiches as well.