Hummus

The Middle Eastern staple food hummus’s origins may be traced across the entire region.

The secret is to produce a tahina sauce by whipping the tahini with garlic, lemon juice, and ice water before adding the chickpeas. This recipe has a similar formula; the only variable is the amount of salt used, which may be adjusted to suit your preference.

Every time I prepare hummus, I feel like I’m having an identity crisis. I prefer my hummus to be silky smooth at all times, but the true question is whether I prefer my hummus to be thin (high on tahina sauce, lower on chickpeas) or thick (high on tahina sauce and high on chickpeas).

However, I must confess that I never boil a batch of chickpeas dry. I go to get some cans. Yes. Okay, I’ll own up to it. Moreover, I feel tremendous guilt. For the time being, I can accept this defect in my personality.

You can make a thinner hummus with only one 14-ounce can of chickpeas, which goes wonderfully with lamb chops and laffa bread.

If you want a thicker hummus or just want something heartier to spread over toast, two 14-ounce cans will do the trick!

Instead of spending hours rehydrating dry chickpeas, I use that spare time to carefully process my chickpeas until they are completely smooth and creamy, ideal for making hummus.

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 large garlic cloves
• 2 cans of canned chickpeas
• 1 cup of tahini
• 1/3 cup of lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon of smoked paprika
• 1/4-1 teaspoon of sea salt

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Mix garlic, lemon juice, and salt in a food processor. Allow to rest for 10 minutes. Doing so reduces the sharpness of the garlic.
2. Mix in the tahini and cumin until you have a thick paste. While everything is going on, fill a measuring cup with a spout with half a cup of water and a few ice cubes. Drop by drop, gradually adding the ice water, and beat the sauce until it reaches a whipped, light, and creamy consistency. The volume will virtually double. A third to half a cup of ice water should do the trick. Hummus can be made thicker by erring on the side of caution.
3. Blend in the drained chickpeas until they’re completely smooth and creamy. This may take 2–5 minutes, during which time you will need to scrape the bowl occasionally. To get the silkiest hummus, I sometimes let it run longer than usual while I attend to something else in the kitchen. Several supplemental streams of icy water can be poured in at strategic points if necessary.
4. Add salt (I use an extra 3/4 teaspoon, for a total of 1 teaspoon), lemon juice, or cumin to taste.
5. Dollop the hummus into a large dish or small bowl.
6. Top with chopped parsley, a pinch of paprika, and a generous helping of extra-virgin olive oil.