Middle Eastern Hummus

Directions

1. Soak the chickpeas overnight. Replace the water from time to time. The grains will begin to swell so use a large bowl with enough space.
2. Drain the chickpeas and wash the grains well. Place them in a large pot with a few gallons of water. Cook on high heat to start boiling the water. Cooking can take hours so if you wish to speed up the process you can add a teaspoon of baking soda or cook it in a pressure cooker. If you have patience and time, however, we recommend cooking over high heat for 2 hours. Note that if there is not enough water in the pot you should add water during the cooking. Cook the chickpeas until you can crush the grains easily with one finger
3. When the chickpeas are ready, drain the water and keep some of the cooking water and a handful of chickpeas on the side (you’ll use them when serving). Let the chickpeas cool down to room temperature.
4. Transfer the chickpeas to a food processor, add the tahini, the lemon juice and some salt. Grind. While your food processor does the hard work, slowly add the water and ice cubes that you saved from the cooking. Taste and correct if needed.
5. You can add more Tahini, lemon juice or water to get a creamier texture, but do so gradually. Add a little more at a time until you reach the texture that you like. Be careful not to add too much: you’ll make the texture too thin.
6. As soon as you have reached the perfect texture, you can add some cumin (which you can find inside our basket). Some people like to add one clove of garlic, but that's a matter of taste.
7. For Serving: Transfer the hummus into low soup bowls - 1 for each person. The hummus should be served warm or at room temperature. It should never be served cold.
8. Sprinkle some olive oil into the middle of the dish.
9. Sprinkle spicy sour sauce in the middle of the dish.
10. Add the chickpeas that you saved. Place in the middle of each dish.
11. Add some chopped fresh parsley.
12. Add a little paprika (for color).
13. You can also add some pine nuts if you like.
14. And for a real traditional dish, add a slice of boiled egg.