1 April, 2013
Hummus
Posted in : Cold Meza (Mezze Appetizers), Dips and side dishes, Recipes, Vegan only, Vegetarian on by : el Meza
Hummus – Chickpeas Dip
Ingredients
- 1 lb of dried chickpeas
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 8 tablespoons of tahini paste (pureed sesame)
- Olive oil to taste
- ⅔ cup of fresh lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon of Paprika
- ⅓ to ½ teaspoon of salt
Instructions
Rinse the dry chickpeas to get rid of any debris, then soak overnight with ½ teaspoon of baking soda. If you don’t prefer to use baking soda, you’ll just have to boil them for a longer time so they get soft. Baking soda helps softening them quicker.
Once ready, empty the soaked chickpeas in a colander/filter to get rid of the soaking water, then rinse it with fresh cold water really well.
Add the chickpeas to a cooking pot with ½ teaspoon of baking soda (optional, just to speed the process) and then add about 6 cups of water (or until water covers the chickpeas by about ½ inch).
Bring it to a boil on high heat, then let it simmer on low heat for about 1 hour while the pot is covered.
Check up on the chickpeas 45 minutes into simmering to see if it’s done. The test is simple, try to crush a chickpea with your fingers, if it crushes easily and feels smooth then it’s done.
Once the chickpeas are cooked, and while still hot add them immediately to a food processor with ½ to 1 cup of warm water and grind for a 3-5 minutes at low speed.
Add the salt and garlic, then slowly start to add the Tahini paste as the food processor grinds away.
Once done, slowly add the lemon juice at the end and let the food processor run for a couple minutes more afterwards. Taste the beautiful puree and see if it needs an adjustment of salt or lemon juice. Serve with olive oil on top.
Notes: Some folks suggest adding the boiled chickpeas water to the food processor instead of regular warm water. You could do that and result in a slightly richer taste, however the resulting hummus may be a bit tougher on the tummy due to all the baking soda in the water.
As soon as the water starts boiling, a white foam will appear on the top, try to scrape out as much of it as possible (without removing water).