Curried Hummus – No Added Fat

Today has been a little busier than normal for me because I lost over two hours on the computer watching a webcast on toxic hunger on Dr. Fuhrman live. It was interesting. I watched it to get an idea of the webcasts because he has a member’s only webcast on cancer prevention and survival coming up on Thursday. I think I am going to join the member’s center for 6 weeks to see that webcast and get a chance to look around the site. After I have had a chance to thoroughly check it out I will let you know if it is worth the investment (it isn’t cheap).

While I was watching the webcast I had some garbanzos cooking on the stove. We have been out of hummus for weeks and I was missing it. It is one of my favorite salad toppings, that and salsa. Today I added some Indian seasonings because I wanted to include turmeric for its antioxidant and anticancer properties. Here is what I made today:

Curried Hummus – No Added Fat
Makes 12 servings

Ingredients:

2 cup garbanzo beans (dried), cooked until very tender, beans only but cooking liquid reserved
1 lemon, zested and juiced
4 cloves garlic, peeled
4 teaspoons hot crushed peppers (or substitute jalapeno, cayenne, or crushed red pepper)
1 tablespoon no salt seasoning (I used the Costco brand)
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoon black mustard seeds
as much bean cooking liquid as you need to achieve the texture you like
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste

Directions:

Combine the ingredients in your food processor or blender. I have a large 14 cup food processor and it all fits in one batch if you have a smaller processor you may need to make this in two batches.

Process until the ingredients are thoroughly combined. Add bean cooking liquid a ladle at a time until you achieve the texture you like. Taste for seasoning and adjust to your tastes. The final texture will be smoother if you use the beans when they are still hot.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 131.41
Calories From Fat (15%) - 20.09

Total Fat - 2.42g
Saturated Fat - 0.24g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 14.34mg
Potassium - 337.91mg
Total Carbohydrates - 22.39g
Fiber - 6.67g
Sugar - 3.69g
Protein - 6.94g

Comments:

I imagine you are asking yourself, what does this taste like? Well it is a little hard to describe but it reminds me of curried garbanzos that I would typically have over rice. The Indian spices are not assertive but they are noticeable. The predominate flavor is a tie between the hot crushed pepper and/or lemon. If you like both of those you will like this hummus.

I added the turmeric for it health promoting properties. Since reading that it causes cancer to commit suicide I have been adding turmeric where ever I could. Adding the turmeric was what prompted me to make this an Indian inspired hummus.

Do you need another version of hummus? I suppose that depends on how often you eat hummus. Since I tend to make a batch of hummus twice a month I need many options.

I have been making no fat added hummus for a quite a while now so we are used to the texture of it. But if you still add oil and/or tahini to your hummus I suggest you try to stick to the tahini since it is a more healthful fat. However once you get used to hummus without fat it becomes your new normal.

Unrelated note:

True confession time, I have not been the best wife over the last couple of weeks. We have been eating so many salads for dinner that my husband has been buying his lunch almost every day. I have been making him trail mix and making a big bottle of fresh juice every morning. But after doing that and making breakfast I have not had time to make lunch too. That was one reason I decided to make some cooked food today. That is easy to put in a lunch bag with a side salad. Thankfully my hubby has a couple of good healthy options very close to his office downtown. But I have been feeling a bit guilty for not making him lunch. Sorry sweetie!

I have an experiment planned for dinner tonight. Since this is entirely new and there is no recipe I have no idea if it will turn out or not, but I hope it does. I don’t want to give up too much info yet in case my hubby is reading the blog because I want him to be surprised. ;-) We need a little mystery after more than 2 decades together. Whether it turns out of not I will let you all know what I am trying and what I learn from my experiment.

I hope everyone is having a great Tuesday. I will talk to you again soon.