Saturday, November 26, 2011

Hummus (Middle Eastern)


The famous Middle-Eastern chickpea dip in its easiest-to-make and classic form. From this basic recipe you can go on whichever path you choose: add some chopped tomatoes, avocado, other spices, use it as a spread or as an ingredient in lots of other dishes like tortilla wraps and shawormas etc. 
We like it best spread inside a pita bread (as in served the way it's intended to be), but also as a dip for various raw or cooked veggies (like carrots, cucumbers, bell pepper wedges, potatoes etc).
We had it inside warm and perfectly puffed Lebanese pita breads :D.
 It's a healthy and yummy snack for whenever the munchies strike and it's ready in 10 minutes. Enjoy.

Ingredients (makes a small-medium bowl):

  • 2 cans of pre-boiled chickpeas (about 500 g)
  • about 150 ml of the can water (or the water in which the chickpeas boiled if you did it yourself)
  • juice from 1 and 1/2 lemons (more or less to taste)
  • 2 tablespoons tahini (sesame paste, available in ethnic shops), optional
  • 4-5 garlic cloves
  • about 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
  • 8 tablespoons olive oil (more or less to taste)
  • red sumac or paprika powder to decorate


Prepare a blender or food processor and pour the drained chickpeas into its bowl (remember to not discard all the water while draining them).

Puree them on medium speed for a couple of minutes, gradually adding the reserved water, until it looks more or less like a paste (except the few bits that remained on the sides). Also add the tahini, salt and garlic cloves:

Puree some more, gradually adding the lemon juice and olive oil. It's no problem if you add it all at once, but it's better to do it gradually so you can taste and control the desired additions. That way you can decide exactly how flavored / sour / salty / runny you want it. The quantities given here, however, are the general accepted idea of a hummus :)
When you're done, pour it into a serving bowl and decorate with more olive oil and some sumach / sweet paprika or pine seeds. It's ready, dig in!
P.S: Store in the fridge, covered, for 2-3 days max.

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