Traditional Hummus
This is a far from basic hummus recipe. It's exactly what you'd want in a hummus; it's velvety smooth and garlicy. It can be made quickly with canned chickpeas, however if you're able to use dried ones that can soak overnight, I would strongly suggest that you do as the end result is superior. Enjoy!
Equipment
- Food Processor
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups dried chickpeas
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 6 1/2 cups water
- 1 cup light tahini paste any tahini paste will do
- 4 tbsp lemon juice use freshly squeezed if you have
- 4 garlic cloves peeled and crushed
- 6 1/2 tbsp iced water
- salt to taste
Instructions
- The night before making your hummus, put the chickpeas in a large bowl and cover them with cold water at least twice their volume. Leave them to soak overnight.
- The next day, drain the chickpeas. Then, add the chickpeas and baking soda to a medium saucepan over high heat and cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the water and bring to a boil. Cook, skimming off any foam and skins that float to the surface. You’re going to let these bad boys sit in a rolling boil for 30 minutes, but continue to skim off the surface from time to time.
- After the 30-minute cook, go ahead and drain the chickpeas. Be careful, the water is hot and there’s no award in telling people you were injured in a hummus making incident. You should have about 3 ½ cups of drained chickpeas at this point. Place the chickpeas in a food processor and process until you get a nice stiff but not too chunky paste. With the machine running, add the tahini paste, lemon juice, garlic and 1 ½ teaspoons of salt. Lastly, drizzle in the iced water and allow it to mix for a few minutes. The end result should be an incredibly smooth and creamy paste.
Notes
- You could substitute 2 (14 oz) cans of drained chickpeas and proceed right to the food processor if you’re impatient and need your hummus fix ASAP! While the more time-consuming overnight soak will definitely produce what I think to be a better outcome, the quick hummus will absolutely work.
- Other variations:
- Roasted Red Pepper Hummus – follow all steps above, and add 2 roasted red peppers (cored and seeded) prior to adding your iced water. You may not need all of the iced water as red peppers have a decent amount of water in them, and you don’t want a watery hummus.
- Roasted Poblano Hummus – follow all steps above, and add 2 roasted poblanos (cored and seeded) prior to adding your iced water. Just like the roasted red pepper hummus above, you may not need all of the iced water as poblanos contain a decent amount of water.
- Beet Hummus – Follow all steps above, and add 2 medium sized roasted beets (peeled and chopped) prior to adding your iced water. Just like the additions above, you may not need all of the iced water as beets contain a decent amount of liquid.
- There are millions of other variations. Get inspired. Use the base recipe as your playground and have fun making hummus! Let me know what else you’ve tried and I’d love to gain inspiration from your creativity!