Today, i'm going to show you the magic of the humble chickpea!! Hummus is to the middle east what hamburger is to the United States! Yup, the humble chickpea is that BIG OF a DEAL over there! They take it very seriously and people get very competitive about it!
Hummus is by far one of the cheapest recipes you'll ever make, literally only needing a handful of cheap ingredients but it's by far one of the most difficult recipes to master! Ask anyone who's been to the middle east, ate hummus, fell in LOVE with the humble chickpea and went home to try and replicate it!!
Today, I'm going to catapult your hummus game to brand new level!
How to make my mom's famous Hummus!
1 pound of dried organic chickpeas(smaller the better!): for this recipe I end up using about HALF of the chickpeas since I save the other half for the Falafel(which I'll share the recipe later!)
1 can of Tahini(ground sesame seeds) paste: you'll probably need about 1/2 cup to 3/4(maybe even 1 whole cup depending on your taste!
Juice of 1 or 2 lemons
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sea salt
Paprika
Parsley
1 teaspoon Baking soda
1-2 smashed garlic cloves(if you wish)
1-2 smashed garlic cloves(if you wish)
Don't forget: Good quality pita bread for dipping!!!
This is my mom's recipe with only 1-2 minor twists I've added which I feel helps take it to another level!
So here we go !!
Step 1:
Soak the dried, organic chickpeas for about 10 to 14 hours in water.
I wouldn't soak for 24 hours because I feel if soaked for that long, the chickpeas will sometimes start to give out an unpleasant odor which could affect the final product if you go past 18 to 24 hours of soaking!
Also, I soak the chickpeas in a large pot of water and place the pot in the fridge while they soak!
And I also highly suggest you change the soaking water at least 2 or 3 times during the soaking phase!
Step 2:
Once the soaking phase is done....
Give the chickpeas one last rinse in clean, cold water before adding to pot!
Time to start cooking down the chickpeas! In a large pot throw in the just rinsed, washed chickpeas and add 1 teaspoon of BAKING SODA and lightly and quickly toss the chickpeas in the pot under MEDIUM HEAT with the 1 teaspoon of baking soda for about 2 minutes...
What you'll notice right away is the BAKING SODA is doing its job …. which is to slowly soften the chickpeas but also remove some of the "husk". After a brief 2 minute toss, now add water to cover the chickpeas in the pot and cover by about 2 or 3 inches of water. Cover the pot with the lid HALF WAY covering the pot and boil the chickpeas on medium-low heat for about 1.5 to 2 hours.
After about 20 to 30 minutes, you should start to see FOAM appear on top of the gently boiling/simmering water... that's normal, so don't freak out! That's the baking soda working its magic... simply skim the foam off the top and discard.
Your goal is skim off as much of the husks that float to the surface as possible!! You don't have to skim All of them off but as many as you can is fine! The more you skim off, the more SMOOTH your hummus will be at the end!
After about 1.5 to 2 hours.....
The chickpeas should very soft to the point where they squish easily when you press them with your fingers yet still mostly holding their cool roundish shape!!
Note: If you put too much baking soda, they start to disintegrate too much... So keep in mind, 1 teaspoon of baking soda is plenty!
Note: If you put too much baking soda, they start to disintegrate too much... So keep in mind, 1 teaspoon of baking soda is plenty!
Scoop out 1 cup of the left-over cooking liquid and 1 cup of the boiled chickpeas and set aside for now!
Drain the chickpeas on a strainer and let it hang out on the kitchen counter while you get ready for the GRINDING PHASE!
Step 3:
The Grinding phase:
In a food processor or Vitamix(which is what I use)….. place 4 or 5 ice-cubes... YES!! I said Ice-cubes at the bottom of the food processor...
Ice cubes plays a KEY ROLE in the science of Hummus(google it!!) ….
Pulse the cubes to break them down a bit... Then add the freshly and recently boiled chickpeas and pulse with the ice cubes for a minute or so.... At this time, it might look like you're messing everything up since the mixture will be kinda "thick" but that's OK!!
Keep pulsing and processing for 1-2 minutes until the chickpeas start to breakdown more and more....
Now it's time to add the Tahini(ground sesame seed paste)…. I buy it from a local halal market!
Continue grinding the mixture... it's probably gonna be thick and look "not right".... if that happens, add 1/2 of the reserved COOKING LIQUID from earlier to smoothen it out a bit and make the grinding easier!
At this point, add salt and lemon juice to your taste!!
Some people love a "lemony/tangy" hummus so add the juice of 1 lemon(if u like very lemony, add another juice of 1 lemon)!
Some people like garlic in their hummus(I don't and actually many restaurants in middle east don't use garlic in their hummus!)
Play around with the taste and get the hummus to get to what your taste buds like YOUR hummus to taste like.... I like mine somewhat lemony and somewhat "Tahini-y" so I add a little extra of these.
Keep grinding the mixture until you get a SMOOTH, VELEVETY but not "liquidity" or "watery" mixture...
One KEY tip, I add and this is where I add my own little twist and I believe gives the hummus an OUSTSANDING SHEEN and FLAVOR!!
While the mixture is grinding in the food processor, I drizzle about 1/4 cup of high quality extra virgin olive oil into the hummus mixture while it's grinding.... you're basically emulsifying the mixture!
At this point, take a spoon and take a bit!
Check for salt, check for lemon, check for consistency!
Once you're fully satisfied with the final taste... it's time to plate!!
Get artistic!!!
This is YOUR Hummus!
Have fun with it, make it look presentable and easy on the eyes!
Use a the back of a spoon and shape the hummus around a plate....
Last but definitely NOT least, throw on the remaining chickpeas you set aside from earlier to garnish on top of the hummus!!!
Garnish with chopped parsley, extra virgin olive oil and a few dashes of paprika!!!
Well made hummus like this is seriously ONE OF THE FEW GOOD THINGS IN LIFE!
Eat it with my freshly made pita bread, make it for your loved ones and I promise you they'll be forever thankful you've brought the humble chickpea into your home!!!
