Place the lemon juice, garlic and salt in a  food processor and blend until combined. Add tahini paste and water, blen until smooth. With motor running drizzle in olive oil slowly to incorporate, blending until creamy.

Add the chickpeas and blend until extra smooth, about 3-5 minutes. The hummus should be slight runny (pourable) so feel free to add a little more water if needed.

Add cumin, pepper and  garam masala spice (starting conservatively). Blend, taste and adjust salt and garam masala spice to your liking.

For an added creaminess, add a 2-3 tablespoons plain yogurt. ( Totally optional!)

To serve, make the optional “tempering oil”.  Heat 2 -3 tablespoons olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add fennel seeds, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and optional curry leaves and swirl and toast until seeds just begin to pop. Turn heat off. Make a circular “well” in the hummus with the back of a spoon and pour the tempering oil into the well ( like the photos.). Scatter with fresh cilantro or pumpkin seeds for color.

Serve with naan bread, pita bread or veggies!

This is also tasty rolled up into wraps!