Day 117

Indian Hummus: Before some of you freak out and think "how could he have not had hummus before?" let me say that this was not standard, Mediterranean style hummus, which I've had plenty of times. During my shopping visit to Taj Mahal imports a few days ago, I noticed that the entire wall on the right side of the store was devoted to sauces, pickles, and chutneys. It was hard to narrow down a choice from the huge selection, but I settled on a jar of Patak's "Brinjal Eggplant Relish." I've seen Patak's products in traditional grocery stores before, but the selection has been limited to curry and masala sauces. The back of the jar included a recipe for "Indian Hummus," and it only required mixing the relish with a can of chickpeas in a food processor. I like hummus, so I was curious to try this Indian version.

The brinjal relish's ingredients consisted of sugar, eggplant, vegetable oil, chile peppers, salt, water, mustard, chile powder, fenugreek, coriander, garlic and spices. Tasted alone, it had a sweet, spicy eggplant flavor that was a bit overwhelming on its own. I dropped a couple tablespoons of the brinjal relish into the food processor, along with the drained can of chickpeas. The finished product was a lot chunkier than Mediterranean hummus, and I had to add a small amount of olive oil to keep it from being too dry. It was tasty, but much richer and sweeter than traditional hummus. I spread a little bit of it on some toasted flatbread, but I couldn't eat as much of it as traditional hummus due to the richness. I might make it again, but I definitely prefer Mediterranean style.

I'm glad I tried this recipe, but it's definitely a different experience than Mediterranean hummus.