Oh hummous is the holy grail of middle eastern dips. Britian’s favourite to buy from the supermarket where the shelves are loaded with tub upon tub of mashed chickpeas and flavouring. The ingredients for home made hummous are super cheap – the base being chickpeas, and in theory, it should be a doddle to make. I’ve been trying to make a version for about thirty years now and given up defeated every time. Until now. I’ve finally cracked the recipe woo hoo! The secret is to roast the garlic.
Ingredients
- 1 x 400g canned chickpeas
- 1 x lemon
- 2 tablespoons of tahini
- Pinch of cumin
- Pinch of salt
- A whole head of garlic
- Olive oil
- 3 tablespoons (45ml) cold water
- Aqua faba – the drained chickpea water as required
Method
You’ll need a food processor or blender for this dish. Turn the oven on to 180 degrees centigrade as we’re going to roast the garlic.
Grab the garlic and cut the top off. Rub some olive oil, salt and pepper on the the head and wrap in tin foil. Place in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. When it’s cooked, it will be coloured and soft but not burnt. Roasted garlic is delicious and only one or two cloves is needed for this recipe.
Open the can of chickpeas. Drain through a sieve and keep the aqua faba liquid. Add the chickpeas, juiced lemon, pinch of cumin and salt with 2 tablespoons of tahini to the blender. Pour in the cold water and 2 tablespoons of aqua faba. Don’t forget to add a couple of cloves of the roasted garlic to taste. Blend until smooth. Add more aqua faba if you need to loosen the texture. Another trick is to blend this hummous really well – it can take a pounding.
Transfer to a serving dish, sprinkle with some olive oil if you like and maybe some paprika to tart it up. Use pitta bread and chopped up vegetables to dip. I take it to work with quinoa, grated apple and carrot for an enjoyable filling lunch.
If you liked this hummous recipe, you might like pea, mint and feta fritters https://cookingwithfi.com/pea-mint-and-feta-fritters-recipe/
There is also a greek style salad that complements the flavours: https://cookingwithfi.com/greek-style-salad/