Hummus
I have written at length about Hummus before but lets face it, cooking is always a work in progress.
When it comes to Hummus there are tons of simple recipes on Cookidoo for basic hummus, but I want you to make real hummus with dried chickpeas.
It doesn't take long and you just have to remember to soak them the night before.
Here you go
Please get back to me with any comments on how I can be clearer
Hummus
start by soaking the chickpeas overnight
If you want really delicious creamy Hummus there is no substitute for soaking and cooking your own. It makes a HUGE difference, the Hummus will be warm and have so much more flavour and nutrition because you use the cooking liquid.
But the main reason is that you need them overcooked to make great hummus, and in jars and tins they are cooked so they hold together and look nice. I want you to cook them until they don’t look nice, so they are beginning to fall apart.
250g dried chickpeas
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp ground cumin
Tahini sauce
4-5 cloves garlic
100g lemon juice
1 tsp malden salt (1/2 if you only have regular salt)
1/4 tsp ground cumin
250g proper middle eastern tahini paste
140g cold water in the fridge
good olive oil for drizzling as a garnish
Zaatar or sumac for garnish or just some fresh parsley leaves
Soak the chick peas overnight in 900mls cold water with a 1 tsp of bicarbonate of soda.
Next day, drain and rinse them well.
EITHER If you have a pressure cooker then use it. Place the chick peas in the PC with 1.6 litres of water, 1 tsp malden salt, and bring to high pressure for 18 minutes. Leave the chick peas to to cool down in the water until warm, not stone cold. Then drain them saving some of the water.
OR cook in a saucepan with 1.6 litres of water, 1/2 tsp of bicarbonate of soda, 1 tsp malden salt for between 1 and 2 hours until really soft and easy to squeeze between thumb and finger. - The chickpeas need to be so soft that the skins are beginning to fall off. Now leave them to cool down in the cooking water. Just until they are warm, then drain but save a cupful of the water. It is difficult to say how long they will take to cook as it totally depends on how old they are and you cannot know that.
(Adding a little bicarb to the cooking water in the saucepan really speeds things up, but is not necessary in the pressure cooker in fact it will blow them into pieces so don’t do it.)
While the chick peas are cooking you can make the tahini sauce.
Place the garlic, lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon malden salt in the Thermomix. Process for 30 seconds at speed 10. Scrape down half way through.
Leave this for 10 minutes which will allow the garlic to mellow.
Then add 1/2 tsp of ground cumin, 250g tahini paste and whizz for 10 secs - speed 5. Scrape down and repeat.
Reduce the speed to 3.5 and with the measuring cup in place go to the scales, you can use the scales while the machine is working, weigh in 140g ice cold water. (or just preweigh the water and add by tipping it onto the lid - it will run under the measuring cup so you don’t get splattered)
When the chick peas are ready and drained, add them to your tahini sauce, with 1/2 tsp cumin, 2T good olive oil, and blend at speed 7, scraping and checking occasionally.
Give it 2 minutes altogether for a really smooth hummus. You need to keep opening the lid and scraping down the sides, a guy in Israel told me that you should whizz it for a minimum of 5 minutes. By all means try and see if it makes a difference, but I think that he didn’t own a Thermomix.
You need to make your own decision on whether you have added enough liquid sometimes I add no more at all because allowing the chick peas to cool down in the water means they will have absorbed a lot. You are aiming for a consistency that will fall from a spoon. So if you like add some of the cooking water but only after checking and deciding if you need to.
Taste.
You want to have a consistency that allows you to create a good hollow in the middle of your serving dish.
Scatter with zaatar or sumac and drizzle with a little very good olive oil. It is delicious served very freshly made, don’t refrigerate it , hummus should be room temperature.
