Ingredients: |
Ingredients: Makes 1 3/4 cups hummus
1¾ cups cooked, drained chickpeas (from a 15-ounce can) or a little shy of 2/3 cup dried chickpeas(use the Indian Chickpeas called Chana Dal because thy are split and pre-peeled) ½ t baking soda (for dried chickpeas only) ½ cup tahini paste 2 T freshly squeezed lemon juice, or more to taste 2 small cloves garlic, roughly chopped ¾ t table salt, or more to taste Approximately 1/4 cup water or reserved chickpea cooking water
Olive oil, paprika or sumac, pita wedges (brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with za’atar, or a combination of sesame seeds and sea salt), and/or carrot sticks [optional] to serve
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Directions: |
Directions:Soak the dried chickpeas overnight. Drain and fill the pot with new water and cook until the chickpeas are soft.
Drain the chickpeas (saving the chickpea broth for soups or to thin the hummus, if desired) and cool enough that you can pick one up without burning your fingers.
Whether fresh or canned chickpeas: Peel your chickpeas. I find this is easiest when you take a chickpea between your thumb and next two fingers, arranging the pointy end in towards your palm, and “pop!” the naked chickpea out. Discard the skin. If you use the Chana Dal this step is removed.
In a food processor, blend the chickpeas until powdery clumps form, a full minute, scraping down the sides. Add the tahini, lemon juice, garlic and salt and blend until pureed. With the machine running, drizzle in water or reserved chickpea cooking water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until you get very smooth, light and creamy mixture. I find I need about 4 tablespoons for this volume, but you may need slightly more or less.
Taste and adjust seasonings, adding more salt or lemon if needed. I do recommend that you hold off on adding more garlic just yet, however. I find that it “blooms” as it settles in the fridge overnight, becoming much more garlicky after a rest, so that even if it doesn’t seem like enough at first, it likely will be in the long run.
Transfer the hummus to a bowl and rest it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, longer if you can. To serve, drizzle it with a little olive oil, and sprinkle it with paprika. Serve it with pita wedges or carrot sticks. |