Ingredients
1 cup chickpeas
1 cup tahina sauce *
1 tablespoon lemon juice
olive oil
parsley leaves
chili powder
slices of lemon

Tahina Sauce (Salatit tahina)
1 cup tahina (sesame seed puree, available in specialty food stores or the international section of large groceries)
1 ½ to 2 cups of water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon vinegar
½ teaspoon cumin
1 small onion, chopped
3-5 crushed garlic cloves (optional)
finely chopped parsley (optional)
salt

Directions
Soak the dried chickpeas overnight. Drain, add fresh water, and simmer until tender, about 1 hour. Drain. Set aside a spoonful of whole chickpeas for decoration and mash or pound the rest. Add tahina sauce* and lemon juice to chickpeas and blend to a smooth paste. Sprinkle top with olive oil and garnish with whole chickpeas, finely chopped parsley, chili powder and slices of lemon (optional).

To make Tahina Sauce
To tahina, add water, lemon juice, salt, cumin and vinegar then stir thoroughly until well blended and a smooth paste will result. Or, dissolve salt in water, then add cumin, lemon juice and vinegar. Stir, then gradually add tahina stirring constantly. Add any or all of the optional ingredients, according to taste. You may also use a blender or food processor at a slow speed.

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