Is it really useful to tell you that I absolutely love hummus? I don't think so.
It has been a classic for a long time, I tried to make it many times, started off just by blending chickpeas and adding in some lemon and salt. Then I actually read about it, learned the "real" recipe and started using tahina, garlic and spices.
I love homemade hummus, because it tastes better, is cheaper and healthier than the store-bought one. Oh, and I love doing things by myself.
I spread it on bread, dip vegetables in it. I would have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner too.
Here is my hummus recipe.
First things first, the chickpeas. I prefer using dried chickpeas that are cheaper and produce less waste than the canned ones.
I soak them overnight or longer in water with a bit of baking soda, to remove the acidity. If you soak them longer than one night, make sure to change the water every 12 hours or so. To see how to prepare your legumes in a healthier way and why, see my blog post here.
Then I usually cook them in a pressure cooker, as it is faster and way more efficient. If you do not have one, use a regular pot and cook your chickpeas covered in water for approximately half an hour. If you still want to use canned chickpeas, make sure to rinse them.
If you wish, you can cook a big batch of chickpeas and freeze them, so you can take them out of the freezer and make small portions of any hummus you like. You can also freeze your hummus in small containers.
Then comes the easy part. Basically, I throw an x quantity of chickpeas in my blender with some olive oil, tahina, salt and pepper, garlic, water (you can also use the cooking water from the chickpeas) and lemon juice.
And then, I taste it. I adjust my quantities, etc. It is versatile, you can use a lot of garlic or none, make it fat free, etc.
If you do not believe in improvisation, follow the quantities below.
Ingredients:
-Chickpeas (500g, cooked)
-Tahina (4 tsp)
-Fresh lemon juice (1 lemon)
-Olive oil (to serve on top, or 2-3 tbsp)
-Salt, pepper to taste
-Garlic (2 cloves)
-Water
-Cumin seeds or powder
Put everything in your blender and miw together until the hummus is nice and smooth. You can make a country version, by blending the garlic, lemon juice and spices together until smooth, then adding in some chickpeas and blending to chunk them (you probably don't want chunk of garlic).
It is delicious, easy and healthy. You can obviously adapt the recipe to your own taste by using less or no garlic, more tahina, more lemon, etc.
Serve in a bowl with paprika, sesame or cumin seeds. Enjoy with crackers, vegetable dips or in a sandwich.