Today on the show we are traveling to the Middle East to explore one of the most iconic and culturally significant dishes of the region: hummus. Chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, garlic and olive combine to make a universally acclaimed food that equally at home at the lunch table as it is in the supermarket aisle.
Listen to the episode below, then scroll down for hummus resources and recipes!
Mentioned in this Episode
Chickpeas have been cultivated for over 10,000 year and are the absolute most important component to a hummus b’tahini. Speaking of tahini
What is Tahini, anyway?
“Where did hummus come from?” from the BBC Travel section.
The “Hummus Wars” between Lebanon and Israel has been raging since around 2008.
Yotam Ottolenghi’s great book “Jerusalem: The Cookbook” dedicates some space to the topic of hummus (along with a plethora of other great recipes associated with the ancient city).
“On the Hummus Route: A Journey Between Cities, Peoples and Dreams” is a masterpiece of a book about hummus. Be warned though, it is expensive! The full-color kindle edition is a fraction of the cost and just as great (but you won’t have a beautiful book to set on your coffee table).
“Hummus! The Movie” is a fascinating and fun look at the popularity of hummus throughout the Middle East.
Whip up a batch of hummus in a few minutes right at home with this recipe:
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Hummus
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 minutes
- Total Time: 13 minutes
Description
This basic hummus recipe is all you need to get started. Delicious just as it is, it is also endlessly adaptable with whatever flavors and ingredients you want to add.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 1 can of cooked chickpeas (15 ounces)
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Add lemon juice and tahini to food processer. Process about 1 minute, or until tahini takes on a fluffy whipped texture.
- Add chickpeas, garlic, and olive oil and process for an additional two or three minutes. Stop and scrape down the sides of your food processor bowl, then continue to process for an additional minute.
- If your hummus is too thick, you can drizzle in one or two tablespoons of ice water and process for an additional minute.
- Transfer your hummus to a bowl and garnish with powdered sumac, cumin, or fresh herbs.
Notes
- The hummus will last for a week in an airtight container in the refrigerator
- Some alternative hummus ideas:
- Add two chipotle peppers in adobo sauce to make a warm, spicy chipotle hummus
- Substitute a head of roasted garlic instead of one raw garlic clove for a rich roasted garlic hummus
- You can start with dried chickpeas and cook your own. Use 1.5 cups of cooked chickpeas instead of canned.
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Quick, easy, and delicious. This will be my new go-to hummus recipe!
★★★★★
Great recipe and I love your tip about blending the lemon and garlic first. My question relates to the volume of chickpeas to use. I like to cook my own chickpeas as I find them to be much softer than the canned variety (although I regular opt for the canned version when short on time!). So, my question is how many grams of cooked chickpeas do I use? 425 g (i.e 15 ozs) or the drained canned weight of chickpeas from a can (i.e. around 240g I think)? I hope that makes sense! I used 425g but then found I had to add a good bit more garlic and lemon juice, so I’m now thinking I should only have used 240g of chickpeas! I only discovered your podcast this week and have already listened to about 10 episodes – I’m hooked!!!
Thanks Paula (Dublin, Ireland (www.ecoconsciousliving.ie))
Hi Paula! Sorry for the delay in responding!
I think you are right and want to use around 240-260 grams of cooked chickpeas. Otherwise you would be close to doubling the recipe the other way (which isn’t a terrible thing–you just need more of everything else). Hope that helps, and thanks for listening! – Roger