Hummus with Warm Lemon Chickpeas

Saturday, April 13, 2013


Hummus is a staple in my house but shamefully, I have to admit, we can be lazy sometimes and secretly buy the store stuff. Often people can be fooled when you buy something ready-made and pass it off as your own but the truth is, homemade hummus is just a different story. 

To be fair, my excuse is justifiable; it takes a lot of effort. Especially when you can buy it in a neat plastic tub, pour it onto a plate, drizzle some olive oil on top and instantly you have something very pretty to fight over at the dinner table. 

For me, the effort really is worth it, particularly since I just got back from the Holy Land of Hummus. Everywhere you go in Israel has ridiculously good hummus. You could go to a petrol station to use the bathroom, in the middle of nowhere and it wouldn't be out of the ordinary to find a little old lady serving up warm pita bread and just-made-best-you've-ever-had hummus.  

If you have the time and the energy, use it! 

Mine is adapted from the cookbook Jerusalem by Sammi Tamimi and Yotam Ottolenghi, (which you have a chance of winning this week! See my last post!) because I just couldn't risk it being less than 100% legit. 

Here it is:
YOU WILL NEED:

FOR THE HUMMUS:
500G DRIED CHICKPEAS
1 1/4 TSP BICARBONATE OF SODA
510G TAHINI PASTE
10 TBSP FRESH LEMON JUICE
6 GARLIC CLOVES, CRUSHED
200 ML ICE COLD WATER
SALT 
OLIVE OIL

FOR THE CHICKPEAS:
3 CLOVES GARLIC, SKIN OF CUT IN HALF
3 TBSP LEMON JUICE
1 TBSP WATER
SALT AND PEPPER

24 hours before you want to make this, rinse the dried chickpeas and leave them in a bowl of cold water over night.



The chickpeas should grow and change colour slightly over night.























Once you've soaked the chickpeas, drain them. Set aside 1 1/2 cups of chickpeas for later. In a medium to large pot, heat the rest of the chickpeas with the bicarbonate of soda on a high heat.
Constantly mix for about four minutes and then add 2.5 litres of water. Leave to boil for approximately 25 minutes or until the chickpeas are easily broken apart with your fingers but not quite mushy.

Skim off any foam and skins that float to the top.

























Drain the chickpeas and pour them in to a food processor.


Blend until the chickpeas form a thick paste. 
With the machine still running, slowly pour in the tahini paste, lemon juice and chopped garlic. Then slowly pour in the iced water. Add 3 teaspoons of salt and add continue to blend for 5 minutes. 

Add more lemon juice or salt to taste if needed. Cover and set aside for half an hour. If you're not using it immediately, refrigerate. May be eaten up to four days later. Always, remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before serving. 

Whilst the hummus has been set aside, take the chickpeas you saved and boil for 10 minutes. 

Pour into a baking dish and mix in olive oil, lemon, water, salt and pepper. 

Bake for 30 minutes. 

Whilst still warm, take a serving of hummus and spread it onto your choice of serving dish, make a slight dip with a spoon or knife in the centre of the hummus and pour 4 tablespoons of the chickpeas on top.  Sprinkle with pine nuts, olive oil, parsley and drizzle the remaining liquid from the chickpea dish, in the centre of the hummus and on top of the warm chickpeas. 

If you are not serving the hummus immediately after making it, you may make the chickpeas later (just before preparing the hummus) for best results. 

Makes approximately 4 large servings. 

Enjoy!! 

<3 Emanuelle