The Best Hummus

This hummus recipe is super smooth and delicious. Feel free to alter the quantities of lemon, garlic and tahini to suit you, I like it with just a hint of garlic but heavy on the lemon. It is great with pita or bread and will keep in the fridge for three days. The recipe is based on one in the Jerusalem cook book by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamini. It does start with dried chickpeas but don’t let this put you off as it really isn’t a hassle to soak and cook them, as this is what makes it so smooth. Simply cover the chickpeas with twice their volume of cold water in a large bowl the day before you want to make the hummus.

Ingredients

• 250 gm dried chickpeas
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/3 cup light tahini paste
• Juice of 1 1/2 – 2 lemons
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 100 ml ice cold water
• salt

Directions

Soak the chick peas in twice their volume of cold water in a large bowl overnight.

Drain the chickpeas. Place a medium saucepan on a high heat and add the drained chickpeas and the bicarbonate of soda. Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add 1.5 litres of fresh water and bring to the boil. Cook, skimming off foam and any skins that float to the surface,

Cook until the chickpeas break up easily when pressed between your thumb and finger. They should be almost but not quite mushy. This could take between 20 and 40 minutes depending on freshness and size. Drain the chickpeas. Reserve a few for serving presentation.

Place the chick peas in a food processor bowl and process until you have a stiff paste.

Add the tahini, lemon juice, garlic and 1 1/2 tsp salt. Process again.

With the motor running slowly drizzle in the ice cold water and continue to process until you have a smooth creamy paste about 5 minutes. Taste for seasoning adding more salt and lemon juice if necessary.

Transfer the hummus to an airtight container and rest for at least 30 minutes. If not using straight away refrigerate until needed but make sure to remove from the fridge 30 minutes before serving.

To serve, I like to dollop it onto a flattish bowl, scatter over the reserved cooked chickpeas, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with paprika or Aleppo chilli flakes. I hope you try making hummus like this is, it really isn’t like any you can buy from the supermarket. If you do please leave me a comment. Enjoy. Sheryl x