Appetizer Hummus

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Michi

Michi

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This is great if you are stuck for something to feed to guests who arrive on short notice. It takes all of 15 minutes to make.

Ingredients:
  • 60 ml (¼ cup) lemon juice
  • 60 ml (¼ cup) tahini
  • 400 g (16 oz) can of chick peas (or 250 g very well cooked chick peas)
  • 1 medium garlic clove, finely grated
  • 30 ml (2 tbsp) olive oil
  • 2.5 ml (½ tsp) ground cumin
  • 3.5 g salt (about ½ tsp kosher salt)
  • 30–50 ml (2–3 tbsp) water, to adjust consistency
  • olive oil and Za'atar for serving
Rinse and drain the chick peas.
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Put tahini and lemon juice into a blender and blend at high speed until the tahini gets white and creamy.
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Add half the chick peas, plus the garlic, olive oil, cumin, and salt. Blend for a minute or two on high speed, then add the remaining chick peas and continue blending until you get a very fine paste.
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Adjust consistency of the hummus by adding a little bit of water at a time until you have something that's not too thick and not too runny.

Taste for salt and add more salt as needed.

Serve drizzled with olive oil and a sprinkle of Za'atar. Serve your favourite bread to spread this onto. (Pita bread is traditional, but any white bread will do fine.)
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I like hummus, but haven’t been quite happy with my results so far. I Will try this recipe next time.
Will have to track down some za’atar first though.
 
Going to try this tomorrow.
 
For bonus points, make your own tahini:
2 cups toasted sesame seeds,
0.3 - 0.4 cup olive oil,
Pinch of salt.

Place all ingredients in the food processor (you already need it for the hummus, so no big deal). Pulse and whirl until creamy.

Fresh tahini ups you hummus game. I also endorse Aleppo pepper as a seasoning.
 
Lars said:
I like hummus, but haven’t been quite happy with my results so far. I Will try this recipe next time.
Will have to track down some za’atar first though.
Click to expand...

Better off tracking down Sumac-it lasts longer and you can use it for other things, like sweet potatoes

Za'ataar
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 tablespoon sumac
1 teaspoon Salt

In a jar with a tight fitting lid, combine all ingredients. Shake. No knife required.
 
I have made this two times - the second time with sumac(thanks Rick) and it’s really very nice.
 
Carl Kotte said:
YES!!!!
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Ah, finally the penny dropped. You like it just because it's beige :)

Forgot to mention: this stuff keeps in the fridge for a week if stored air-tight. And, after a night in the fridge, it's better: the flavours blend over time, making for a nicer dip. Just let it warm to room temperature before serving; it's not that nice when cold because much of the flavour disappears.
 
I love hummus.
With white beans cooked in pressure cooker is very tasty as well. I use Raz el Hanout, mostly because of the flower touch from cinamon and rose, much garlic, Chardonnay vinegar and a grain of glutamate.
For a smooth texture I use much water and make it runny. The day after, the hummus has the right texture.
 
That’s my go to recipe for hummus as well. I use granulated garlic or roasted garlic though, don’t like it raw.

So Versatile as well, love making it with roasted peppers or roasted beets (not store bought of course!)
 
I made Hummus using this recipe and it was great. I used canned chickpeas and boiled them for an extra 10 minutes with some baking soda, but other than that did everything the same, came out so creamy/fluffy.
 
nutmeg said:
I use Raz el Hanout, mostly because of the flower touch from cinamon and rose, much garlic, Chardonnay vinegar and a grain of glutamate.
Click to expand...
I just made two batches side by side. One following the recipe I posted, and one substituting Ras el Hanout for the cumin. In all other ways, the batches are absolutely identical.

This was an interesting experiment. I expected a huge difference. But, surprisingly, the difference is small. Don't get me wrong—there definitely is a difference. But it is subtle.

My main impression is that the nutmeg in the Ras el Hanout comes through, but quite subtly. If I concentrate, I can also pick up the cardamom and cloves. But overall, the taste of the second hummus is remarkably similar. It is still dominated by the chick peas, tahini, and lemon juice. The spices just add that quite subtle sub-context to it all and, without them, it would be a much less interesting dish.

I had my wife taste both batches, without telling her what I did. She said that they are different, but found it difficult to point the finger at what that difference really was.

I get the impression that, what matters is that here are some spices in there to add an extra dimension of smell and interest. But exactly which spices seems less important, as long as there are some spices.
 
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Michi said:
I just made two batches side by side. One following the recipe I posted, and one substituting Ras el Hanout for the cumin. In all other ways, the batches are absolutely identical.

This was an interesting experiment. I expected a huge difference. But, surprisingly, the difference is small. Don't get me wrong—there definitely is a difference. But it is subtle.

My main impression is that the nutmeg in the Ras el Hanout comes through, but quite subtly. If I concentrate, I can also pick up the cardamom and cloves. But overall, the taste of the second hummus is remarkably similar. It is still dominated by the chick peas, tahini, and lemon juice. The spices just add that quite subtle sub-context to it all and, without them, it would be a much less interesting dish.

I had my wife taste both batches, without telling here what I did. She said that they are different, but found it difficult to point the finger at what that difference really was.

I get the impression that, what matters is that here are some spices in there to add an extra dimension of smell and interest. But exactly which spices seems less important, as long as there are some spices.
Click to expand...

Cumin and raz el hanout are not that different. I think what brings the most to hummus from raz el hanout is cinnamon.
Anyway we all cook and season very differently.
Tahina is very strong and I find 1 table spoon for say 1,5kg hummus to be the maximum I can accept.
Lemon juice is also very strong compared to lime juice + chardonnay vinegar
Raw garlic is also very strong compared to garlic boiled with chick peas and the water from the can.
So, I could imagine the difference with spice can be smaller or greater depending on the context.
 
Thanks for this recipe Michi, I’ve made it several times now and though different each time (down to the lemons I think) it’s always turned out great... next to do it with the home made tahini

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If your using chickpeas (not from a can):
- If possible choose a small size of chickpeas variety (they have thinner shells and it helps in getting a smoother hummus).
- It is preferable to soak the chickpeas in a lot of water over night. Something like 3L for, lets say, 350g of chickpeas. Its a good idea to put something like 2-3 table tablespoons of kosher salt and 2 peeled garlic cloves in the soaking walter.
- Before soaking you should rinse the chickpeas a couple of times untill you get clear water when you rinse them. Do the same rinse (untill clear water) before cooking as well.
- Cook the chickpeas and the garlic without salt but with a teaspoon of baking soda.
- The cooking walter should be something like 2 inch abouve the chickpeas. You need to spoon the foam and the chickpeas shells that float (spooning the shells is optional). Chickpeas will be ready when you can squash them VERY easly between your fingers.
- Before putting the chickpeas in a blender let them cool in the fridge for a while. It is preferable to first blend the chickpeas and use the cooking walter for consistency and after that to add the tahini and lemon juice and seasoning.
- For decoration you can use paprika (hot or sweet) and turmeric. Olive oil is a must for me and its great to decorate with finely chopped parsley as it is amazing for color and taste.
 
BillHanna said:
What does the baking soda do?
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It will accelerate the softening of the chickpeas and will shorten the cooking time by something like 50%. In my experience with baking soda it will take between 1-1.5 hours (depending on the variety of the chickpeas, how long were they pre-soaked in water and so on). If time is of the essence then you can use a pressure-cooker and put in half the amount of baking soda. This will shorten the cooking time by half.

Almost everything you do with hummus is for the purpose of "a creamier texture" like @madelinez said.
 
without baking soda, I can't remember of a smooth texture, even processed in a Thermomix.
For smoothest texture you can mix it quite liquid, let rest over night and then adjust the texture on the next day.
If the texture seems good on the first day, it will be too firm the day after.
 
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