Roasted Beetroot Hummus With Parsley and Cumin

• Note: The cooking time above reflects simultaneously cooking the chickpeas and roasting the beets in the oven, plus the additional time for processing the ingredients into hummus.

To Cook the Chickpeas

• Cover the chickpeas in water till about 2 inches above the surface of the chickpeas, and add 1 teaspoon of baking soda. Leave to soak overnight or at least 8 hours. After soaking, drain, rinse well and drain again. You don't want to use the water in which the chickpeas were soaked.
• Cook till the chickpeas start falling apart. This usually takes me 30-40 minutes if I bring it to a boil and then simmer on a low flame.
  This time I used a pressure cooker and cooked the chickpeas till 2 whistles, after which I turned off the stove and allowed the cooker to cool on its own.
  Once you open the cooker, drain but retain the drained water in which the chickpeas were boiled.

  Set the cooked chickpeas and the water aside till required.

To Roast the Beetroot

• Preheat the oven to 200C (about 400 F)
  Wash the whole raw beetroot, wipe off excess of moisture and wrap each beet in aluminum foil.
  Roast for 30-40 minutes.
  The roasting time would depend on the size of the beets, so check after about 25 minutes that they are not getting charred.
  Surprisingly, the foil is not usually too hot to handle when you test whether the beets are done, but watch out for the steam when you open the foil packets!
  Stick a fork into each beet - when the tines go right in, your beetroot is roasted and ready to be made into hummus.
• Peel the beets once they are cool enough. Slice them so that they are easy to puree.

To Make Roasted Beetroot Hummus

• Mince parsley and garlic. Remember to remove the stems of the parsley and keep only the leaves, so they grind well in the hummus. Zest a large lemon and squeeze for the juice. Roast the cumin on a hot pan till they begin to darken (about 30 seconds). Remove and powder the cumin seeds.
• I found I needed to puree the hummus in 2 batches as there was a lot of chickpeas to be processed, and then combined the 2. I split some of the ingredients like olive oil, seasonings, tahini between the batches so that the flavours would mix well.
• Process the beetroot slices first. Add the chickpeas, pepper, powdered roasted cumin, tahini, minced garlic, lemon zest and half of the salt and lemon juice in the ingredients list above. Essentially, all ingredients except the olive oil and parsley.
• Add the parsley, making sure you have removed the stems and kept only the leaves. Add olive oil as you run the processor until you get a smooth paste. If your processor does not provide for adding as it runs, add half the olive oil and then add the rest after you run the processor. If you find the hummus doesn't process well or is very thick, add a little of the water drained from the cooked chickpeas - one tablespoon at a time. You don't want a runny hummus, just a spreadable smooth one. Taste for salt and lemon juice and add a little more and run the processor and taste again. Be careful not to over-salt the hummus.
• Transfer the hummus when done, to a serving bowl. Drizzle with 1-2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and with minced parsley. Serve with pita bread or with crudités of raw vegetables. Or use as a spread for quesadilla or a sandwich.