Hummus with Tahini
2014-10-02- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
- Course: Side Dishes
- Yield : 600 gms
- Servings : 16
- Prep Time : 8:000 h
- Cook Time : 15m
- Ready In : 8:15 h
Hummus is a perennial favourite! With this ridiculously easy recipe making Hummus is a pleasure. This very tasty and creamy dish goes with almost everything though traditionally it is served with Pita bread. I have used it as a dip and as a spread on bread, roti, and parathas. Rich in proteins, it’s a very healthy dish to have on your menu.
Serve Hummus with Pita Bread
Ingredients
- Dried chickpeas 2 cups
- Garlic cloves, unpeeled, 5 large
- Bay leaves 2
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 1 cup
- Ground Cumin, 1 tsp
- Seasme seeds 100 gms
- Fresh lemon juice 2 Tbsp (or to taste)
- Salt to taste
- Paprika or red chilli powder, for garnish
- Chopped parsley 2 Tbsp
Method
Step 1
Soak Chickpeas for about 8 hours (or overnight for best results). When they are soaked through cook them with bay leaves, come salt and unpeeled garlic cloves. You can use a pressure cooker to cook these, it takes about 20 min to cook in a pressure cooker.
Step 2
While the Chickpeas are being cooked, prepare Tahini. Roast Sesame seeds lightly (they should not change colour, just become fragrant. Cool them, and grind them with about 50ml of olive oil. Tahini should be thick, but have a pouring consistency (Use more olive oil if needed)
Step 3
Take out the cooked chickpeas, discard the bay leaf. Remove the garlic cloves, peel and set aside. Drain the chickpeas reserving the cooking liquid.
Step 4
In a food processor, puree the chickpeas with 4 Tbsp Olive oil, all the garlic cloves and about 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid. Puree it for 20 seconds and then add the cumin, 4-5 Tbsp Tahini and 4 Tbsp lemon juice along with salt (if needed).
Step 5
Puree to a smooth consistency. Stir the contents a bit and continue the process. You might also need more of the cooking water or just plain water (You can make a variation by adding yogurt). Taste for salt and flavours.
Step 6
To Prepare the Tahini for garnish remember to use the same food processor bowl without washing it so that it incorporates the chickpeas mixture leftovers and adds to the flavours. Transfer it to a serving bowl, garnish it with Tahini mixture, a bit of olive oil, red chilli powder, roasted cumin powder and fresh parsley.
Trivia…
I have often heard people debate about origins of Hummus. Some say it is Greek, some insist on it being Middle Eastern. Did some research and found out that Hummus, in most likelihood originated in ancient Egypt.
“The earliest known recipes for a dish similar to hummus bi tahina are recorded in cookbooks published in Cairo in the 13th century. A cold purée of chickpeas with vinegar and pickled lemons with herbs, spices, and oil, but no tahini or garlic, appears in the Kitāb al-Wusla ilā l-habīb fī wasf al-tayyibāt wa-l-tīb; and a purée of chickpeas and tahini called hummus kasa appears in the Kitab Wasf al-Atima al-Mutada: it is based on puréed chickpeas and tahini, and acidulated with vinegar (though not lemon), but it also contains many spices, herbs, and nuts, and no garlic. It is also served by rolling it out and letting it sit overnight, which presumably gives it a very different texture from hummus bi tahina.”
Read more about Hummus on Wikipedia
Well, wherever it originated, they did give us one terrific dish.
To make Tahini you will need Sesame seeds and Olive oil
Tahini should be thick and yet have a pouring consistency.
Hummus Ingredients: Chickpeas (boiled with garlic and a bay leaf), Olive oil, Tahini, Red chilli powder, Roasted Cumin Powder and Lime juice.
posted by Rachit Bhargava on October 28, 2015
Swati…..another bit of information …… a very popular Middle Eastern restaurant in NYC, famous for it’s creamy hummus let out it’s secret ….. the junior apprentices are give the un-envious work of peeling the boiled cholas. They discard the skin, and only puree the inside. That way they get absolutely creamy hummus.
posted by Swati Sani on October 28, 2015
Thank you, Rachit. Thats an interesting piece of information.