Author: Crys

I have been trying to prepare “a-close-to-the-perfection” hummus for as long as I can recall it, but without success.

As we should know, Hummus is no longer considered as an exotic dish coming from the Middle East but a simple fix of the ingredients readily available to a modern day home cook.

However, thanks to my ganbaru spirit (The word Ganbaru in Japanese means doing one’s best and hanging on to the bitter end), I have recently come across a new recipe promising me the perfect hummus.

As the hummus turned out to be truly delicious and perfect in my humble opinion, I decided to share it even though the originality of my contribution is nearly zero.

There are a couple of steps you need to follow:

Don’t even think of buying canned! The healthiest way is to cook the chickpeas.

Soak the chickpeas in plenty of cold water (they should be well covered as they will be soaking in that water thirstily) with a day in advance. In the morning discard the water, rinse the chickpeas well, drain and cook them in plenty of water.

Mine took about 2.5 hours in a covered pot on the lowest heat possible, but the cooking time varies depending on the heat and the quantity of the chickpeas, so you need to adjust accordingly.

Cook them thoroughly.

All you have to do is to cook the chickpeas very well; they should be very soft while keeping their shape, which should allow you to remove the peel with ease. The best way to find out whether they are cooked to perfection is to take one out and try it.

Save the cooking water

This is the one of the secrets I have learned over the past years – keep the water that you use to cook the chickpeas!

You need to add water as you puree the chickpeas because hummus has a tendency to thicken after a few hours.

Peel the chickpeas

Peeling the chickpeas is another make-it-or-break-it point.

Those peels are going to be very hard to mill and they will end up ruining the intention to create the silky whipped cream-like texture. After cooking, you have to drain the chickpeas and reserve the cooking water, as explained above. Then you have to wash them a few times in cold water to loosen up the skins due to the contrast of temperature, and finally to peel them.

Use olive oil.

Olive oil gives another dimension to the final taste of the dish.

Ingredients for 4 portions:

160 g dry chickpeas

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 fresh lemon juice

2/3 cup of the water used for cooking the chickpeas

extra-virgin olive oil, for serving

red pepper flakes

5 tablespoons tahini paste

Method

Transfer the chickpeas to a bowl and add the rest of the ingredients and mix them all thoroughly with a stab mixer until the paste’s texture is smooth. Taste and add lemon juice and salt to your taste; add even more cooking water if you prefer thinner hummus.

Place in a serving bowl and create a shallow well in the center of the hummus in order to add 1 or 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Garnish optionally with parsley or other herbs of your choice.

Serve it with fresh, warm, toasted pita or tortilla.

Hummus can be also refrigerated up to 3 days.

Bon appétit!

Tags: exotic dishes, Hummus, Middle East food