Currently living in my third Middle Eastern country. I may never eat hummus again when I finally leave, but I'm not tired of it yet. The texture of my homemade version (with white beans, since I wasn't trying to compare mine with the lovely local version) was fine by American standards, but my Palestinian friend whispered "Add some more olive oil when you serve it." So, mush the hummus around on a plate, and pour a good tablespoon or more of olive oil over the top and toss a few whole chickpeas on it. Apart from that, my personal preferences are to use lots of roasted garlic (double the amount of raw), and I"m in the same "a touch of cayenne pepper and more lemon than the basic recipe calls for" camp. I also find myself adding a surprising amount of salt.
I'll come down in the camp that recommends a small amount of "hot pepper" (which covers a multitude of sins). Could be cayenne, aleppo, smoked pimenton etc. I also think there should be a little bit of cumin in there. But the chickpeas, tahini, olive oil and garlic are the main notes. Everything else is an accent.
My hummus recipe came from a letter in Gourmet magazine, late 1960's! It's similar to Syronai's, but more lemon -- to me, this is the classic (which we sold in our natural foods deli in the 1980's).
2 c (or 1 can) chickpeas, cooked; 1/3 cup tahini, 1/3 cup lemon juice, as much garlic as you like -- run in a food processor until smooth. You can add bean liquid to loosen it up.
Note that there are no seasonings at all, not even salt, and no added oil!
Lately I've been playing with lots of variations, and they're good, but this is the template.
Let's see, I think I can write it out from memory:
1 can (15oz) garbanzo beans, rinsed well
2 cloves garlic
salt to taste
1/3 cup tahini
water as needed
1 tsp lemon juice, plus more to taste
dash good quality olive oil
Crush garlic and salt together. In a food processor, combine garlic, salt, and garbanzo beans. Blend until beans are well chopped. Add tahini and some lemon juice. Continue blending until very smooth, adding water as needed to keep things moving. (Don't use too much water or it'll become runny; you're looking for a thick creamy paste consistency.) As the processor runs, add a dash of olive oil in a thin stream (up to 2 tsp). The olive oil is optional, but will give the hummus a creamier consistency. Taste and adjust salt and lemon juice as needed. Serve room temperature or cold, with olive oil drizzled over the top. Dash paprika over and garnish with parsley if desired.
Variation: Add 1/2 tsp ground coriander and 1/4 tsp ground cumin near the end of blending.
Note: If you don't have a food processor, you can use a blender. You'll need to add more water and make it slightly runnier than normal to get it blend well, but it'll work just fine.
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2 c (or 1 can) chickpeas, cooked; 1/3 cup tahini, 1/3 cup lemon juice, as much garlic as you like -- run in a food processor until smooth. You can add bean liquid to loosen it up.
Note that there are no seasonings at all, not even salt, and no added oil!
Lately I've been playing with lots of variations, and they're good, but this is the template.
1 can (15oz) garbanzo beans, rinsed well
2 cloves garlic
salt to taste
1/3 cup tahini
water as needed
1 tsp lemon juice, plus more to taste
dash good quality olive oil
Crush garlic and salt together. In a food processor, combine garlic, salt, and garbanzo beans. Blend until beans are well chopped. Add tahini and some lemon juice. Continue blending until very smooth, adding water as needed to keep things moving. (Don't use too much water or it'll become runny; you're looking for a thick creamy paste consistency.) As the processor runs, add a dash of olive oil in a thin stream (up to 2 tsp). The olive oil is optional, but will give the hummus a creamier consistency. Taste and adjust salt and lemon juice as needed. Serve room temperature or cold, with olive oil drizzled over the top. Dash paprika over and garnish with parsley if desired.
Variation: Add 1/2 tsp ground coriander and 1/4 tsp ground cumin near the end of blending.
Note: If you don't have a food processor, you can use a blender. You'll need to add more water and make it slightly runnier than normal to get it blend well, but it'll work just fine.