Classic hummus is made with chickpeas and tahini, plus the other stuff. Here's a Lebanese version:
Hummus Bi Tahini
After soaking and cooking a cup of chickpeas, press them through a sieve or food mill, adding 2 tbls of the cooking liquid to separate the peas from their skins.
Slowly blend in 1/3 cup tahini, a scant half cup lemon juice, and 2 cloves garlic crushed in a mortar with some salt.
Tahini doesn't taste anything like sesame oil (which, most times, is toasted). Think of peanut butter made from sesame seeds instead of peanuts, and you'll have an idea of what it is.
Tahini is a staple of Mid-eastern cookery. Hummus is just one of many familiar dishes made with it. Baba Ghannouj (baa baa ganush) is another.
Ana Sortun, in her "Spice" has an interesting recipe for avocado hummus, which is used as a base for fried squid. I don't care for her squid recipe--it uses cornmeal for the breading, which makes a crunchy breading that's all about the coating instead of the calamari. But the avocado hummus is great. I've used it with my own fried calamari, and with other seafood dishes.
Recently I saw a variation on the theme that used black beans instead of chickpeas. It sounded real good, and I want to give it a try.
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