Soak-boil-blend-garnish! 4 easy steps to get your hummus ready! While there are so many variations you can have for hummus, I try to keep it simple involving minimum ingredients and lesser utensils. And did I forget to tell you, no store-bought Tahini! Hummus is so versatile; it can be eaten with salads, in falafel wraps, as a sandwich spread or even as a dip.
Ingredients
- 150gms Chickpeas
- 2 Tbsp White Sesame Seeds (roasted)
- 6-7 Garlic Cloves
- 1 Tsp Cumin Powder
- 150ml Olive Oil
- 1 Tsp Chilli Powder
- Cilantro (for garnishing)
- 1 Tsp Chilli Flakes (for garnishing and optional)
- Green Olives (chopped and optional)
- Salt to Taste
Preparation
Prep: 10 minutes
Cooking: 20 minutes
- Soak the chickpeas overnight. The water level should be double the chickpeas irrelevant of the soaking time.
- 4-hours Hack – Heat the water that you will be using to soak the chickpeas. Pour that water in a steel dabba or any steel vessel which can be covered. Put in the chickpeas. Then cover and keep it in your microwave or oven for four hours (that will retain the heat around for longer). After the soaking time, soft-cook it in a pressure cooker. Do not add salt in the pressure cooker. Also, if you have soaked the chickpeas only for four hours, you could add a little eating soda (1/2 tsp) in the water.
- Strain the boiled chickpeas and keep some water aside for later (to add to get the right consistency).
- A lot of recipes suggest peeling the skin of every single pea for texture (which does not take long actually). However, you could keep it as it. It is just a small difference in the texture of the hummus. (Tip – If you want to make a small quantity as a creamy dip, you could peel them. However, large batches for salads or wraps or sandwiches do not require peeling).
- Add peas to a blender (after cooling them). Add 6 to 7 cloves of garlic, 1/2 cup of the strained water, cumin powder, salt as per taste and lastly tahini. (Of course, you do not need to use store-bought tahini. If you do not use Tahini as a dressing, you need not make it and keep separately and can simply follow the next step).
- Take white till or sesame seeds, roast them light golden. Then put it in a mixer to make a dry powder. Add that to the hummus ingredients jar and blend.
- Now open the blender and adjust the spice and salt. Add half batch of olive oil and some water to get a loose paste-like consistency. As you add water and blend, the colour of the hummus will turn cream from the initial beige. Hummus is ready!
- Now you can store in an airtight container. Once you pour it in a container, cover the top with a thin layer of oil.
- When serving, add some lime juice and mix well. In the serving bowl spread the hummus and drizzle some olive oil on top. Garnish with chilli flakes, chilli powder and cilantro. (You could also garnish with fried garlic or fried chickpeas for the added crunch).
- Serve hummus with a veggie salad (or falafel balls and pita bread) – finely long chop capsicum, lettuce/cabbage, onions, tomatoes, cucumber (or the vegetables of your choice), add a dash of lime, pepper, salt and chilli flakes. Make it 15 to 20 minutes before serving to maintain the crunch. You could also add a side of toasted brown bread.
