homemade hummus advice

I know how this is going to sound, but throw away every recipe you have for hummus and follow mine. My LEBANESE GRANDMOTHER taught me how to make it. We used to smash everything in a giant mortar and pestle, and then whip the heck out of it to get it nice and smooth. It was a load of work, but it was delicious!!!

We've since tried making it in the blender, in the food processor, in a ninja, in a magic bullet and in a nutri bullet. The best gadget has always been the food processor, hands down. You get a paste that most imitates the back-breaking mortar and pestle version--no grit, gum, goo or chunks.

Note to all: DO NOT use tahini's that are made in America, unless it is made in your own American kitchen. Find a middle eastern store and purchase an imported tahini. My brand of choice is Beirut Tahini. It contains one ingredient: RAW SESAME SEEDS. If you make your own, do not add anything to it at all.

BASIC RECIPE FOR HUMMUS:

Chick Peas: about 3 cups. If you are using canned, use two cans of NO SALT ADDED chick peas, and drain one can only. If you are using dried, cover in UNSALTED water and cook until soft. This takes hours. If you are using raw, COOK THEM until they light and soft. This also takes hours. They must be soft or they will not process correctly and make your hummus nasty. For both the dried and raw options, reserve about 2/3 cup of the cooking water.

I use canned chick peas.

Garlic: Use garlic to taste. If you like garlic, use more garlic. The rule in our home is 2 cloves if you're going out, 4 if you're staying home.

Olive Oil: Because tahini contains a lot of oil, there is no need to add any oil at all. Leave it out.

2-4 cloves of garlic
3 cups chick peas with reserved liquid as described above
1/4 cup tahini
Juice from 1 1/2 lemons
1/8 tsp of kosher salt
a pinch of 7 spice, tumeric or good curry powder to garnish.
water


Start with the garlic. Peel the garlic and remove the foot (the little hard piece of root that attaches the clove to the bulb). Put the garlic in the food processor and pulse it. Scrape the bowl, pulse. Scrape the bowl, pulse.

Add the Chick Peas and reserved water to the processor. Run.

Add the tahini and the lemon juice. If you like more lemon, add more. If you like less, add less. Run.

The hummus should be smooth and fluffy. if not, add two tablespoons of water and run.

Add the salt and pulse a few times. If you're salt restricted, you can omit it, but the flavor will be a little off. An option is 1/8 tsp of corriander.

Transfer to a dish, top with a pinched dusting of 7-spice, tumeric or curry, depending on what you like.


VARIATIONS OF THIS:

BLACK BEANS: replace the chick peas with 3 cups of black beans RINSED, and 2/3 cup plain water. Add about 1/8 cup of cilantro to the recipe, and replace the 1/2 lemon with 1 lime. Add the cilantro after pulsing the garlic. Pulse, scrape, pulse, scrape, pulse. Add 1/4 tsp of cumin along with the salt.

Top with a pinch of corriander, cumin or chopped cilantro.

BABA GHANOUJ: Use the recipe for hummus exactly as above, only replace the chick peas with two medium sized eggplants. To prepare the eggplants: Poke with a fork and broil in the skin, 20 minutes on each side. Let cool until you can touch it, scrape the flesh from the skin. Let cool for a few more minutes, then use the recipe above.

WINTER SQUASH BABA GHANOUJ: Cook the squash in the oven until soft. Scrape out the flesh, add 1/4 tsp 7 spice to the mix with the salt. Works with acorn squash, butternut squash, pumpkin...

SUMMER SQUASH/ZUCCHINI BABA GHANOUJ: Steam about 2 cups of summer squash or zucchini. You can mix them, as they are beautiful. Don't peel these, as the skin on summer squash gets nice and tender. Make as above.

bump... absolutely love hummus!!

I never use lemon in mine. But fresh garlic and cumin are key. The basics I use is chickpeas, tahini, garlic, cumin, olive oil, sea salt and pepper. I use canned chickpeas, and hold onto the water they are packed in to use as a thinner instead of plan water so you still have the flavor. I see a lot of great recipes here, good luck and enjoy!

bump

Following for all the great hummus recipes!!

This is my recipe - it's Israeli (or Palestinian, as your politics may run) so maybe taste will differ a little the way you might be used to it elsewhere. It looks more involved than it is - it's really not very much work, but it just takes forever.

* Tehini shouldn't have salt in it. The ingredients list on your tehini should read, in it's entirety: sesame.
* I always use dried chickpeas, but I guess it works on the same principle with canned, but skip all the chickpea-preparing steps.

1. Wash your chickpeas. Seriously, they get dusty. Give them a good wash in cold water, pick out any dodgy looking ones.

2. Soak them in cold water, enough to cover them. Change the water after a few hours (it'll get yellowish, you'll want to.)

3. Soak at least 18 hours or so, 24 is good too. If it looks like they've soaked up all the water, add more water. You can speed this up a little by adding a teaspoon or so of drinking soda (or, sometimes I use baking powder) but still leave at least overnight.

4. Put the chickpeas in a big pot with enough water to cover them and then some. I add the garlic - peeled teeth - to the chickpeas at this point. It's also common to add an onion (just a whole onion, peeled of course) to the pot at this point. (Dunno if it really does anything for the flavour, but I've never had the experimental guts to leave it out.)

5. Bring to a boil, and then put the heat very low and leave for about 3-5 hours, until the chickpeas are totally, totally soft, effortlessly squished between fingers. At the beginning of the cooking it'll generate this kind of white foam - gather this up with a spoon and throw it away. During the cooking some of the skins might float up. Some people get rid of them at this point, but it's a fussy procedure and I think they're actually supposed to be good for you. It's mostly a question of texture.

6. Cool the whole thing down, (water, chickpeas, onion and all) and stick in the fridge, overnight or at least until it's totally cold. It'll might be just a little gelatinous. (if you want it hot, skip this step - you get a rather different consistency though.)

7. If you're using canned chickpeas, I guess this is the stage you come in. I think canned chickpeas come pre-cooked.

8. Stick **part** of the chickpeas, garlic and water from the pot in a bowl and mash, or in a blender and blend. Add in lemon juice and tahini gradually, stirring and tasting as you go.

Keep adding in the four ingredients: chickpeas, the water the chickpeas was cooked in, tahini and lemon juice, (and garlic, if you didn't cook it or just want more) until you get a flavour and consistency you like.

Tahini *soaks up water* and gets *less* liquidy as water is added to it, up to a certain point. So if you've added a lot of tahini you're going to need a bit more chickpea-water, etc. A little bit like making dough. It's all about playing with the taste and texture that you want. If you're making a lot, make it in several batches.

9. I usually add in a little salt while i'm doing the mixing, and sometimes cumin. All other spices in hummus (except as toppings) are heresy and that's all I'll say to that. ;-P

10. Wash the pot or it will get really gunky. Throw away the onion.

This!

The Smitten Kitchen blogger says to remove the skins of the chickpeas before you blend. I think that is too much work, but she says it results in a much smoother hummus. I am with others on the tahini not being critical, although if you are going to use it, I try to go for a Middle Eastern brand.

It is a pain, but if you can stand it, peeling the chickpeas makes a HUGE difference.

http://ohsheglows.com/2010/12/04/the-hummus-that-changed-everything/
This is my favorite hummus recipe.

+1 I used this recipe and it was totally delish!

1 LB cooked garbanzos
2T oilve oil
5 cloves minced garlic
1T fresh lemon juice
1/2 t salt
1T sesame seeds ( didnt have tahini- its just fine with out it)
1t black pepper

mash with potato masher till is smooshed
then put in food proscessor - add about 1/2 c water to help it blend, sometimes more sometimes less

What is the serving size and calories?

This is my recipe for Homemade Hummus.

1 cup whole white sesame seeds
1 cup water
Juice of 3 lemons
3-4 cloves of garlic
1-2 tsp of sea salt, to taste
1 tsp of ground cumin
1 pinch of cayenne pepper

Blend above ingredients in a Vitamix until really smooth and aromatic. It will look slightly grey.

Then add two cans of UNSALTED chickpeas. Add a little more water if you think it needs it. I use the Eden Organic unsalted variety, from the health food store.

This Hummus is SO GOOD it tastes as though you are running off with contraband!!

Notice it has no oil. If you want oil, put a tablespoon or two in for the right "feel."

Yes, I invested in a Vitamix. Your homemade smoothies, hummus, mayonnaise, creams, purees, and soups will never be the same.

It's cheaper than chemotherapy.

;-D

This looks awesome! I always have plenty of sesame seeds on hand. I wonder if they would grind in my cheap blender or food processor?
I usually use almond butter because I never have tahini around the house. I just add stuff to taste, without much olive oil. It always seems to come out tasty. I do cook my own chick peas. We are crazy about roasted chickpeas with chipolte/cumin/ lime seasoning so I just cooked about 5 pounds chickpeas in my pressure cooker yesterday. They taste so much better from dried than canned! I also can my own beans, which also taste a lot better than store bought.

Love these ideas everyone!! Thanks

You can make hummus using sprouted garbanzo beans
soak dry beans for a few hours
put them in a strainer damp
rinse them off a couple times a day
for about 2 days
just enough so the very tiny tip of a sprout starts to show. just BARELY
use them like cooked garbanzos
the result will be sweeter hummus, and less savory
some people claim its more nutritious this way.