Hummus
Extremely simple to make, no cooking, few ingredients, only a food processor.The rule for flavouring hummus is that there is no rules…
You can flavour it with whatever takes your fancy, cumin, coriander seed, dried chilli flakes or Za’atar, red pepper, sun-dried tomatoes or black olives for decoration.
Basic hummus
Serve 6-8 people as dip or spread
Ingredients :
2 X 400 g cans of chickpeas (keep the liquid and few chickpeas for decoration)
or cook your own chickpeas (250 g of dried chickpeas = approx. 500 g cooked chickpeas) and keep a little bit of liquid as well
4 tsp tahini,
2 garlic cloves, crushed,
Sea salt and pepper.
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 tbsp squeezed lemon juice
smoked paprika
coriander
cumin seeds
Cooking the checkpeas :
Beans cooked with the lid on, but ajar, will be creamier, softer and break apart more easily. These are perfect for hummus where you want the beans to break apart.
Method
Rinse the cooked chickpeas in cold water and tip into the food processor.
Add the tahini, crushed garlic, salt, lemon juice and seven tablespoons of the reserved liquid from the cans or the pot if you have cooked the chickpeas particularly if the hummus is a bit too thick.
Turn on the food processor and slowly pour in the oil while it runs.
When the mixture is fully combined and smooth, tip it into a serving dish.
Drizzle with some more extra virgin olive oil.
Sprinkle with smoked paprika and finely chopped coriander, parsley leaves or cumin seeds.
Other variants:
Add two medium size avocados and reduce by half the quantity of olive oil.
It gives a beautiful colour and a nice flavour, try and you will never go back to the traditional Hummus
Add one or two medium cooked beetroot and one teaspoon of coriander (powder), no paprika, no cumin seeds.
I like to spread a little bit of pine nuts on the top of the preparation, for decoration and test.
You can store in the fridge for several days
Can be easily frozen for several months.
You can flavour it with whatever takes your fancy, cumin, coriander seed, dried chilli flakes or Za’atar, red pepper, sun-dried tomatoes or black olives for decoration.
Basic hummus
Serve 6-8 people as dip or spread
Ingredients :
2 X 400 g cans of chickpeas (keep the liquid and few chickpeas for decoration)
or cook your own chickpeas (250 g of dried chickpeas = approx. 500 g cooked chickpeas) and keep a little bit of liquid as well
4 tsp tahini,
2 garlic cloves, crushed,
Sea salt and pepper.
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 tbsp squeezed lemon juice
smoked paprika
coriander
cumin seeds
Cooking the checkpeas :
- Cooking your own batch of chickpeas is easy, they taste better, and you get control of the texture. If you’re planning on making a dip or spread which is the case in this recipe then having a batch of really soft cooked beans ready is perfect. If you’re adding them to a salad or stew, the option to keep the beans more firm is nice.
- Soak the dried chickpeas in a large pot, cover with several centimetres of water and bring
- to a boil.
- Boil for 5 minutes then take the pot off of the heat and let the beans sit in the water for 1 hour.
- After the beans have been soaked, drain and rinse them well.
- Add them to a large pot, cover the beans with several inches of water, and bring everything to a boil. You can add in the water, ¼ sliced onion or a little bit of garlic or thyme to add a bit of flavour, (no salt )
- Reduce the heat and simmer until they reach your desired tenderness, 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours.
- When simmering, you can keep the pot lid off or on, but slightly ajar (allowing some steam to escape while cooking).
Beans cooked with the lid on, but ajar, will be creamier, softer and break apart more easily. These are perfect for hummus where you want the beans to break apart.
Method
Rinse the cooked chickpeas in cold water and tip into the food processor.
Add the tahini, crushed garlic, salt, lemon juice and seven tablespoons of the reserved liquid from the cans or the pot if you have cooked the chickpeas particularly if the hummus is a bit too thick.
Turn on the food processor and slowly pour in the oil while it runs.
When the mixture is fully combined and smooth, tip it into a serving dish.
Drizzle with some more extra virgin olive oil.
Sprinkle with smoked paprika and finely chopped coriander, parsley leaves or cumin seeds.
Other variants:
Add two medium size avocados and reduce by half the quantity of olive oil.
It gives a beautiful colour and a nice flavour, try and you will never go back to the traditional Hummus
Add one or two medium cooked beetroot and one teaspoon of coriander (powder), no paprika, no cumin seeds.
I like to spread a little bit of pine nuts on the top of the preparation, for decoration and test.
You can store in the fridge for several days
Can be easily frozen for several months.