Home-made Garlic Hummus with Ricotta cheese

Bollywood in "So you think you can dance"! How cool is that?
There apparently was a Bollywood routine last season as well (which I seemed to have missed), but the fever this season is just at a whole another level because of the "Slumdog Millionaire" and the famous "Jai Ho" craze.
The dancers, Caitlin and Jason who performed to the Jai Ho song were pretty awesome. Some pretty great hand and foot work. I am no authority on dancing, but I have grown with enough Indian movies to know what an entertaining number would be. Our movies have an average of 5-7 songs a movie with actors twisting and turning their body parts in some graceful and some not so graceful moves.
Anyway, I just hope there is more Bollywood and more good dancing this season.
That said, my favorite was the samba performed by Max and Kayla. They just fired the stage up!
This dance oriented reality show (competition) airs on "Fox" on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Check your local guide for timings.

On to the recipe...
Today, we have a creamy hummus spread on a crunchy whole wheat pita bread.
I added part skim ricotta cheese to give it that light airy feel. You may omit it if you'd rather not have any dairy.
I toasted the pita bread using a bread toaster, came out really crispy and beats the pan heated pita any day. I did not have tahini on hand which is traditionally used while making hummus, so I used sesame seeds and ground it up into a paste. Tasted just as good.



Home-made Garlic Hummus with Ricotta cheese

Ingredients:

Boiled chickpeas/garbanzo - 2 cups (canned will also work)
Toasted sesame seeds - 3 tbsp (or use sesame paste)
Red chilly flakes - 1 tbsp
Pepper - A pinch
Salt - To taste
Garlic - 2 cloves (use roasted for a more nuttier flavor)
Part skim Ricotta cheese - 1/4 cup
Olive oil - 3 tbsp
Cilantro - For garnish
Lime/Lemon juice - 2 tsp

Method:

Using a food processor or blender, make a paste out of toasted sesame seeds, red chilly flakes, pepper, salt, garlic with a little bit of water.
When you get a smooth paste, add chick peas and blend again into a smooth consistency.
Finally add the ricotta and drizzle olive oil. Give it a whirl just until combined.
Sprinkle the lime juice on top and mix with a spoon.

Spread over toasted whole wheat pita bread and top with chopped cilantro.

For pita bread, you may:

1. Heat it on a hot pan till lightly brown.
2. Cut into wedges and heat it in a preheated oven at 400F-425F for 10-15 min.
3. Cut a pita into 4 triangles and toast in a bread toaster for 3-4 min.(I followed this method)