Hummus and Pita Bread
The last time I had hummus I was in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It wasn’t homemade or freshly prepared. It was hummus in a jar. I only needed to try one bite to confirm my suspicion that hummus in a jar isn’t a good idea. Tahini is expensive in South America and not readily available, making fresh hummus hard to come by. In Florianópolis, we found Chårütü’s, a restaurant that serves up Indian, Arabic, Caribbean, Mexican and vegetarian food. They’re not a vegetarian restaurant but their menu includes vegan-friendly samosas, falafel, salads and a variety of delicious dips.
On our first night in Florianópolis, we ate at Chårütü’s. Before we were half way through our meal, we decided we should eat there everyday for the rest of our visit. And we did. After finishing our pita chips and hummus, we moved on to try their potato and pea curry samosas. They were served with mango chutney and raitha. We skipped the raitha because of the yogurt but enjoyed every bite of our samosas dipped in the mango chutney, which had big chunks of fresh ginger. I usually opt for baked versus fried samosas but these were made to order and impossible to resist. The price for four samosas is $6 Brazilian Real ($3.20 USD).
Samosas
For our main course, we split three tortilla wraps stuffed with zucchini, carrot, peppers and spring onion. We had a little too much fun dipping them in hummus, chutney and spicy sauce. Sadly, we missed out on the guacamole, curry and jerk sauce. I guess we’ll just have to find a way to get back to Florianópolis someday. For $12 Brazilian Real ($6.43 USD), you can get three wraps and two sauces. Each additional sauce costs $2 Brazilian Real ($1.08 USD).
Vegan Wraps
Over the course of our three days in Florianópolis, we went back for seconds, thirds and fourths. We even ordered a bunch of takeout for the long bus ride to Rio de Janeiro.
Charutu's takeout
If you’re visiting Florianópolis, be sure to check out Barra da Lagoa and drop by Chårütü’s.
Charutu's
Charutu's Menu
Charutu’s Restobar
Professor Abelardo de Souza 23
Barra da Lagoa
Florianópolis, Brazil
4 Comments »
your life is yummy. I look forward to round 2 of making chickpea curry tonight.
Wow!! Each picture looks better than the last. How delicious! And you’re right – Hummus in a jar is NOT good. Homemade, on the other hand… YUM.
Tahini is not very common in Brazil but sesame seeds are, and they’re not expensive. And if you lighty roast them and ground them you have instant fresh tahini.
But when I make my hummus I don’t use tahini, I just roast the sesame seeds and blend it with the other ingredients on a mixer until they disapear.
The food looks delicious! It’s too bad that you didn’t try our hummus from the Fábrica de Hummus in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It’s homemade, and it’s in a jar. Shocking, right? Ha! At any rate, your pictures look amazing. I’ve never been to Floriánopolis, but I’ve been to Porto Alegre and and several small cities in Rio Grandee do Sul state. Happy travels!
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