Ultra-Creamy Hummus
And here’s the best part: Superlative hummus requires only a little more time and effort to make than that lunch box stuff. Here’s my component-by-component approach.
2 cans Chickpeas, drained and rinsed well.
1/2 tsp baking soda, will help take skins off.
Cook in 6 cups water, bring to boil for 20 minutes
While the Garbanzo Beans are boiling
4 cloves garlic, minced
Measure 1 tablespoon minced garlic and add to 1/3 cup lemon juice
Add 1 teaspoon salt
Stir and let set for 10 minutes
Strain to remove garlic, dispose garlic
When ready, drain garbanzo beans. Add cool water to pan. Swish with hand in water which allows skins to release and scoop out released skins. Rinse 3 or 4 times to remove skins.
Save 2 tablespoons of chick peas for garnish
Place chick peas in food processor with marinated lemon juice,
1/4 cup water (I would suggest starting with 3
tablespoons)
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 cup Tahini. (light colored tahini is not bitter)
Stir in by hand, 2 T olive oil
Serve with:
Carrots cut at a diagonal 3" or 4"
Radishes
Persian cucumbers, quartered lengthwise
Pita bread (thick)
For Garnish:
Sprinkle of cumin
Couple of chick peas
Parsley
Drizzle of olive oil
Notes:
How you treat the chickpeas impacts the consistency of hummus more than any other factor, because they are firm (even when cooked) and covered in tough skins.
My most effective tricks were overcooking them and removing their skins. It takes hours to soak and simmer dried chickpeas, but simmering canned beans took about 20 minutes. (There’s no shame here: Dried and canned beans are equally good in this recipe.) I also added baking soda to the saucepan, which raised the water’s pH and helped the skins break down and slip off. By the end of cooking, there was a “raft” of skins floating on the surface that was easy to remove by draining and rinsing the beans a few times.
Tahini
Tahini is hummus’s major source of richness and flavor and significantly affects its consistency. Brand and color matter here, since the tahini’s shade indicates how much the sesame seeds have been roasted. Lighter tahini, made with lightly roasted sesame seeds, tastes distinct but mild, whereas darker tahini, made with heavily roasted sesame seeds, is unpleasantly bitter.
One thing I discovered: It’s important to process the other hummus ingredients before adding the tahini. That’s because its proteins readily absorb water and clump, resulting in overly thick hummus. Processing the other ingredients without the tahini allows the water to disperse throughout the mixture; then, when the tahini is eventually added, its proteins can’t immediately absorb the water and clump, and the hummus doesn’t become stiff.
Water
Water is often added to enhance the spread’s creaminess. I started with 1/4 cup and, depending on the consistency of the tahini and the hummus itself (it thickens as it sits), added more water by the teaspoon.
Olive Oil
Typically, all the fat in hummus comes from tahini, but 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil made my version especially silky. To avoid overprocessing the oil, which can release bitter-tasting compounds, I added it with the tahini.
Notes:
How you treat the chickpeas impacts the consistency of hummus more than any other factor, because they are firm (even when cooked) and covered in tough skins.
My most effective tricks were overcooking them and removing their skins. It takes hours to soak and simmer dried chickpeas, but simmering canned beans took about 20 minutes. (There’s no shame here: Dried and canned beans are equally good in this recipe.) I also added baking soda to the saucepan, which raised the water’s pH and helped the skins break down and slip off. By the end of cooking, there was a “raft” of skins floating on the surface that was easy to remove by draining and rinsing the beans a few times.
Tahini
Tahini is hummus’s major source of richness and flavor and significantly affects its consistency. Brand and color matter here, since the tahini’s shade indicates how much the sesame seeds have been roasted. Lighter tahini, made with lightly roasted sesame seeds, tastes distinct but mild, whereas darker tahini, made with heavily roasted sesame seeds, is unpleasantly bitter.
One thing I discovered: It’s important to process the other hummus ingredients before adding the tahini. That’s because its proteins readily absorb water and clump, resulting in overly thick hummus. Processing the other ingredients without the tahini allows the water to disperse throughout the mixture; then, when the tahini is eventually added, its proteins can’t immediately absorb the water and clump, and the hummus doesn’t become stiff.
Water
Water is often added to enhance the spread’s creaminess. I started with 1/4 cup and, depending on the consistency of the tahini and the hummus itself (it thickens as it sits), added more water by the teaspoon.
Olive Oil
Typically, all the fat in hummus comes from tahini, but 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil made my version especially silky. To avoid overprocessing the oil, which can release bitter-tasting compounds, I added it with the tahini.
Lemon Juice + Garlic
Instead of incorporating garlic directly into the hummus as most recipes do, I briefly steeped a few minced cloves in lemon juice, strained and discarded them, and added only the infused juice to the dip—a technique from chef Michael Solomonov’s popular hummus recipe and one that we’ve used in the past for Caesar dressing. The juice’s acid neutralizes alliinase, the enzyme that creates garlic’s harsh flavor. That way, we capture some—but not too much—of the garlic’s sharp, raw bite and strain out the pulpy bits.
Instead of incorporating garlic directly into the hummus as most recipes do, I briefly steeped a few minced cloves in lemon juice, strained and discarded them, and added only the infused juice to the dip—a technique from chef Michael Solomonov’s popular hummus recipe and one that we’ve used in the past for Caesar dressing. The juice’s acid neutralizes alliinase, the enzyme that creates garlic’s harsh flavor. That way, we capture some—but not too much—of the garlic’s sharp, raw bite and strain out the pulpy bits.
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