Hummus

 

 

This is my absolute favourite chickpea-based ‘dip’! I use inverted commas for the word dip because, after living in Dubai for 8 years, I have learned to consider Hummus as a dish rather than a dip. In some regions of the Middle East and North Africa, Hummus can even be a meal in itself.

But what most people don’t get about Hummus is that there are so few ingredients in the recipe that each one has to be the star of the dish if you want an ultra smooth, thick and rich puree as a result. And, it’s definitely not enough to call a dish Hummus to make it magically turn into Hummus! But news flash, restaurants/recipes that use other legumes than chickpeas to make it will NEVER get hummus. The reason is fairly simple, the word ‘Hummus’ actually means chickpeas in Arabic…do I need to say anymore?

Ingredients

1 cup of dried chickpeas, soaked in cold water overnight
½ cup of tahini
2 garlic cloves
½ cup of extra virgin olive oil
½ freshly squeezed lemon
3 to 4 ice cubes
1 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
Sprinkle of Sumac

Method

1. Rinse the soaked chickpeas in a large saucepan and cover them with water. Bring them to the boil and let them boil for 5 minutes.
2. Take them off the heat and leave them to soak in the hot water for at least one hour.
3. Once again, rinse the chickpeas before placing them in a large saucepan and cover them with more water and bring them to the boil before reducing the heat and then letting them simmer for 1½ hour to 2 hours.(Keep an eye on the level of water and add more water as needed).
4. Take them off the heat only once very tender and add ½ tsp of baking soda.
5. Take a handful of chickpeas and run under running water to remove the skins then place the peeled chickpeas in a bowl.
6. Let the food processor run for at least 1-2 minutes before you place all the other ingredients. At this point, it’s all about tasting and feeling the consistency. You may want to add a dash of salt or olive oil or even a little more lemon. This recipe will keep very well in the fridge in an airtight container for 5 days.

So what’s the secret? It’s very simple! Respect the order in which you place the ingredients in your high-speed food processor. Tahini and lemon are the guests of honor!

Recommended for this recipe: the best way to finish this hummus is to add a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, a drizzle of date syrup and a sprinkle of sumac!.