Hummus
The Levantine chickpea dip: chickpeas cooked with bicarb till falling apart, blended hot with tahini, lemon and garlic. Plated swirled, eaten with warm pita.
Overview
Dried chickpeas soak overnight with a teaspoon of baking soda. Cook for 60-75 minutes with baking soda until very soft. Reserve a small handful of whole chickpeas as garnish. Blend hot chickpeas with garlic, lemon, salt, ice cubes (yes, they help the emulsion) and a generous quantity of good tahini. Result: smooth, silky, pale-gold. Plate in a wide bowl; swirl with the back of a spoon; top with chickpeas, paprika, parsley, olive oil, cumin.
Ingredients
- 300 g dried chickpeas (soaked overnight in cold water with 1 teaspoon baking soda)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda (for the cook)
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 ½ lemons (more to taste, juice)
- 200 g good tahini (Lebanese, Palestinian or Israeli brand - light and pourable)
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt (to taste)
- 60-100 ml ice water (added during blending)
- 4 ice cubes (one of the Israeli tricks - silkier emulsion)
To finish
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (extra-virgin)
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon paprika (or sumac)
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley (chopped)
- 1 tablespoon reserved whole chickpeas
- Warm pita
Method
Stage 1 - Cook chickpeas
- Drain soaked chickpeas; rinse; place in a wide pot.
- Cover with cold water by 5 cm; add 1 teaspoon baking soda.
- Bring to a boil; skim the heavy scum and the loose skins that rise (skim aggressively - the skins make the hummus grainy).
- Reduce to a simmer; cover partially; cook 60-75 minutes until chickpeas crush easily between thumb and finger.
Stage 2 - Drain and reserve
- Drain chickpeas, reserving 2 tablespoons whole.
- Use the hot chickpeas immediately (heat helps the silky texture).
Stage 3 - Blend
- Place hot chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice, salt, tahini in a food processor.
- Process for 3-4 minutes (much longer than you'd think). Periodically scrape down.
- Add ice cubes (one at a time); continue processing.
- Stream in ice water in small amounts; process another 2 minutes.
- The hummus should be silky-smooth, pale gold, ribbons from the spatula.
Stage 4 - Taste
- Adjust salt, lemon, tahini. Hummus should taste sharper than seems right cold - flavours mellow once cooled.
Stage 5 - Plate
- Spread on a wide shallow plate. Use the back of a spoon to create a swirl-well in the centre.
- Spoon olive oil into the well.
- Scatter the reserved whole chickpeas in the well.
- Sprinkle paprika and cumin around the edge.
- Scatter parsley.
Stage 6 - Serve
- Eat warm or at room temperature with warm pita, vegetable crudités, or as part of a mezze.
Notes
- Baking soda is the trick: During soak and cook. Softens the chickpea skins; loose skins float off in the boil; gives silky-smooth hummus.
- Long blend: 5+ minutes total in the processor. Most people stop too soon - that's where graininess comes from.
- Hot chickpeas: Blending hot gives a silkier result than cooled. The ice water + ice cubes during blending then re-emulsifies.
Storage
- Refrigerate 5 days; bring to room temperature 30 minutes before serving (cold hummus is dense and flavourless).
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