Homemade hummus — dried chickpeas, tahini and lemon
Hummus as served in Jaffa's hummus shops: chickpeas cooked until they crush between two fingers, blended while still hot with plenty of tahini, lemon and ice cubes, and served warm with a drizzle of olive oil, warm pita, raw onion and green chilli relish.
Ingredients for two
| 100 g | Dried chickpeas half a glass, soaked overnight; yields 230 g cooked chickpeas, about one tin |
| 5 g | Bicarbonate of soda 1 tsp: half for soaking and half for cooking |
| 110 g | Tahini (raw sesame paste) 7 heaped tbsp, 100% sesame (Al Arz or Har Bracha); it makes the hummus, so be generous |
| 120 g | Lemon 1 lemon: juice of one half (2 tbsp) for the hummus; the other half for the harif and a wedge for serving |
| 5 g | Garlic 1 clove, central shoot removed |
| 5 g | Fine salt 1 level tsp |
| 1 g | Ground cumin 1/4 tsp (optional) |
| 120 g | Water 4 ice cubes (about 100 g), then ice-cold water a spoonful at a time if the hummus is still too thick; excludes soaking and cooking water (about 2 litres tap water, reserving a small glass) |
| 20 g | Extra virgin olive oil 2 tbsp, to serve |
| 1 g | Sweet paprika a pinch, to serve |
| 10 g | Flat-leaf parsley a few sprigs, finely chopped |
| 80 g | Pita breads 1 pita, cut into quarters, for two; use 2 pitas if serving hummus as a main meal |
| 15 g | Hot green chillies 1 green chilli, finely chopped with 1 tbsp lemon juice and a pinch of salt, for the harif relish (optional) |
| 60 g | Yellow onions 1/2 onion, cut into wedges and served raw, as in a hummus shop (optional) |
Method
- The day before, rinse the chickpeas and cover with three times their volume of cold water and 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda. Soak for 12 hours, or at least 8, in the fridge if the kitchen is warmer than 25°C. The next day, rinse and drain: they should have doubled in volume.
- Put the drained chickpeas and remaining 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda in a 3-litre saucepan. Stir over a high heat without liquid for 2 minutes to help loosen the skins. Cover with 1.5 litres cold water, bring to the boil and skim off the foam and floating skins. Reduce to a simmer and cook uncovered, without salt, for 45–60 minutes, depending on the age of the chickpeas. A chickpea should crush between two fingers without any resistance, almost to a purée. If in doubt, cook for another 10 minutes: overcooked chickpeas make smoother hummus; undercooked ones never will.
- While the chickpeas cook, put the tahini, juice of half a lemon, crushed garlic and salt in a food processor or blender. Blend for 1 minute: the mixture will thicken and lighten, which is normal; the chickpeas will loosen it. Prepare the accompaniments. Cut the remaining lemon half into two wedges. Finely chop the green chilli with a pinch of salt, put in a small dish and squeeze over one lemon wedge to make the harif relish. Cut the half onion into wedges. Check that you have 4 ice cubes in the freezer, but leave them there until step 5, just before adding them.
- Drain the piping-hot chickpeas in a colander set over a bowl, reserving a small glass (100 g) of cooking water for loosening the hummus or making masabacha. Reserve 1 tbsp whole chickpeas for garnish. Add the remaining hot chickpeas to the tahini mixture with the cumin. Blend at full speed for 2 minutes, removing the centre cap from the lid to let steam escape. The purée will still be thick and grainy.
- Take the ice cubes out now. With the motor running, add them one at a time through the lid opening, followed by ice-cold water a spoonful at a time. Blend for another 3–4 minutes: the cold meeting the hot chickpeas produces a very smooth, pale, airy cream that falls slowly from a spoon. The longer you blend, the silkier it becomes. Taste and adjust the salt or lemon. If still too stiff, add a spoonful of hot cooking water rather than cold water.
- Serve warm: spread 2 generous spoonfuls (120–150 g) on each shallow bowl, making a circular groove with the back of the spoon. Pour the olive oil into the groove, add the whole chickpeas and sprinkle with paprika and parsley. Warm the pita in a dry frying pan over a high heat for 1 minute on each side and serve cut into quarters. Set the onion wedges, lemon wedge and small dish of harif alongside. Refrigerate the remaining hummus, nearly half the batch, in a sealed container for lunch the next day.
Lighter version
- Extra virgin olive oil : 10 g
- Pita breads : removed
- add Cucumbers 120 g (1 Israeli cucumber, cut into sticks)
- add Carrots 90 g (1 carrot, peeled and cut into sticks)
In step 6, replace the pita with the cucumber and carrot cut into 8 cm sticks, arranged around the hummus. Drizzle just 1 tbsp oil into the groove.
Keep the hummus itself unchanged, replace the pita with raw vegetables and halve the oil.
On your plate
Recipe
729 kcal · protein 24 g · carbs 57 g · fat 43 g
Quantities per person
- 50 g Dried chickpeas
- 2.5 g Bicarbonate of soda
- 55 g Tahini (raw sesame paste)
- 60 g Lemon
- 2.5 g Garlic
- 2.5 g Fine salt
- 0.5 g Ground cumin
- 60 g Water
- 10 g Extra virgin olive oil
- 0.5 g Sweet paprika
- 5 g Flat-leaf parsley
- 40 g Pita breads
- 7.5 g Hot green chillies
- 30 g Yellow onions
Cooking tips
This makes two starters and two lunches. Hummus keeps in a sealed container in the fridge for 4 days. Take it out 30 minutes before serving, loosen with a spoonful of water and beat with a fork to restore its texture. Serve leftovers the next day with a hard-boiled egg and pickles, or in a rolled pita. Doubling the batch for a crowd takes the same effort. Soak the chickpeas the evening before for 12 hours; this is not included in the stated time. Without soaking, allow 1 hour 30 minutes of cooking. For masabacha, keep a generous third of the chickpeas whole and hot and spoon over the hummus with lemon juice, cumin and a little of the cooking water reserved in step 4.
Hummus from Israel's hummus shops, including Abu Hassan in Jaffa and Lina in Jerusalem, using the bicarbonate-of-soda and ice-cube method.