Seeing this image of the tastiest falafel from a market stall in Jerusalem pop up in my Facebook news feed from 8 years ago has really set my mouth watering and taken me back to a holiday I’ll never forget, spending time with rarely-seen family and making new friends in a country that is equal parts amazing and beautiful.
It blows my mind to think it was so long ago but the memories, friendships and wonder (+ photos) will always be there.
Looking at that image and reminiscing has inspired me to get around to posting this simple recipe for Hummus that is just so much better than anything you buy in the shops. Humus has been a staple in my house for as long as I can remember and with a Mum of middle eastern decent nothing but home-made hummus made it through the door.
Why We Chose This Recipe
Whether its to share with friends at a party or a quick snack with pita for lunch or to spread (thickly) on sandwiches with pastrami and tomato Humus is a perfect – and extremely simple recipe to master and extremely forgiving and easy to fix if you over season with one ingredient.
Once you’ve got the hang of it you will always have a tin of chickpeas and a jar of Tahini in the cupboard for those snacking moments or for when unexpected friends drop by. This is one of those recipes that has just become so second nature to us as it’s one that is made so often.
Most of the time its just made by the simple rule of ‘taste-as-you-go’ – when you have made it a few times there is no doubt you will never need to look at the ingredients and quantities again. Actually writing this recipe we had to really make a conscious effort to remember to measure everything we added – generally we just put it all randomly into a food processor and wizz it up. We’ve never actually measured out the ingredients before so I guess thats a new experience for us!
THE OUTCOME
There are so many different variations you can add to this recipe depending on your taste. We’ve written out the recipe with cumin as this is the kind that I remember most and associate with ‘home’, but you can add so many different spices to create your own flavours and personalise depending on what you’d like to pair your Humus with.
You don’t need to make it with the yogurt mixed through, but I find it just gives it a little bit of creaminess – if you don’t have any though just leave it out and it’ll still taste delicious. If you leave out the yogurt you may just need to compensate with a little water. Whilst mentioning water ALWAYS use water to get the consistency you need – i’ve read and tried many recipes which use olive oil or what ever other oil is ‘flavour of the month’ within the media at the time – which in theory sounds good because you can get that nutty/floral/vibtant flavour from different oils but what it does in practice is just makes the dip very heavy. A gluey, heavy dip is now what good hummus should be at all, so do yourself a favour and use water.
Recipe
- 1 400g tin of Chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 4. tbsp Water
- 1 tbsp. Tahini
- Juice of one half large or one small lemon
- 1 tbsp. Natural yogurt
- 1 tsp. Cumin Powder
- 1 clove of Garlic
- pinch of salt to taste
Ingredient Hints and Tips
You can substitute the Cumin for another spice (or spice mix) you think would work well or you prefer. Think smoked Paprika, Zatar, Caraway or anything else you prefer.
Always drain and rinse chickpeas thoroughly. Allot of the bloating and ‘gas’ people often associate from Chickpeas comes from the water in the tin not being drained and the chickpeas not being rinsed properly. I always punch a few holes in the bottom of the tin and then open normally and sit them under running water for a minute or so, that way I don’t need to rinse a sieve or do any unnecessary cleaning up!
Natural Yogurt is not required but does give more creaminess.
Depending on the salt you use you may need more. Taste as you go and add more as needed.
As easy as can be
- Add Chickpeas, Tahini and water to a food processor. Blend until it is combined and broken down into a grainy-like consistency.
- Add the cumin along with half the amount of garlic and half of the lemon juice along with the salt. Blend for around 30 seconds or until well mixed and blended together.
- TASTE, this is so important, taste the mixture now and if you feel it needs it add the remainder of the lemon juice and garlic. Depending on the strength of the garlic and the amount of juice from the lemon sometimes half the amount is enough.
- If needed add the garlic and lemon juice a little at a time, tasting after a quick pulse in the blender.
- Once you have the desired taste add the yogurt and blitz until combined.
- Transfer to a serving bowl, it keeps really well in an airtight container for a few days – although at our house it doesn’t quite last so long!
