Make Ahead

Hummus with sesame seeds (no tahini)

by:
January 22, 2016
5
2 Ratings
Hummus with sesame seeds (no tahini)
Photo by Kirthana | Theblurrylime
  • Makes 2 1/2 cups
Author Notes

What tahini is, is basically a sesame paste made of toasted sesame seeds, olive oil, salt and occasionally, sesame oil. Simple. A homemade version had to work, right? I’ve been making hummus all this while using the bottled paste; organic, and very good quality. But once you make yours from scratch, you’ll realize that it’s not nearly on the same playing field as homemade. The sesame seeds, freshly toasted, is magic.

Hummus is at its prime when eaten right away. The moment it comes out of the blender, sprinkled with cumin and paprika and anointed with a generous drizzle of olive oil. In an ideal world that would be the only way to eat it, but surprisingly, it freezes very well too. Hummus for days! —Kirthana | Theblurrylime

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 2 cups cooked* chickpeas (Garbanzo beans)
  • 1/4 cup sesame seeds
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 2 tablespoons lime juice
  • 1/4 cup olive oil (plus extra to top with)
  • 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil (optional)
  • A pinch of cumin
  • A pinch of paprika
  • Salt
Directions
  1. *If using canned chickpeas, just drain the liquid and use.
  2. *If using dried chickpeas : soak ¾ cup of dried chickpeas in plenty of room temperature/cold water and soak them overnight, at least 6 - 8 hours. They will expand to more than double their size, so make sure to cover by several inches of water. Rinse and discard the water.
  3. Place them in a pot and cover with at least 2 inches of cold water. Bring the water up to the boil, then simmer for 50 - 60 minutes until they soften (cooking time of dried chickpeas varies vastly;some might take up to 2 hours). A good trick to check their doneness is to take one out and smush it between your fingers. You want them to be just tender, not completely falling apart. Once done, drain the chickpeas and drop them in an ice bath. Remove their skins and discard.
  4. Place the sesame seeds in a small pan and toss them until lightly coloured and toasted, about 1 minute. Reserve 1 tsp for garnish, and toss the rest into a blender. Pour over olive oil and sesame oil and blend until smooth.
  5. Add the chickpeas, garlic, lime juice, and salt to the sesame paste and blend until smooth. Add water to loosen out the hummus to get your desired consistency.
  6. To serve, decant the hummus into a bowl. Pour over a generous glug of olive oil, and sprinkle with cumin, paprika and reserved sesame seeds.
  7. FREEZING INSTRUCTIONS: Hummus freezes very well; spoon into air-tight containers or zip-lock bags. To thaw, let it sit in the refrigerator for a few hours.
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5 Reviews

Cat
Cat October 13, 2019
This is the best hummus I have ever prepared, I like the seeds better than the tahini paste, simple, few ingredients and super tasty,
 
Elcee
Elcee August 4, 2019
This was the first successful hummus recipe I've made in my vitamix. So much better than using tahini paste! Thank you for the great recipe.
 
R. F.
R. F. March 2, 2019
We added lemon juice (in lieu of lime) to the oils and sesame seeds, since otherwise it wasn't enough to cover the blades, and it still wasn't blending smooth, so we just added all the rest of the ingredients, plus a few cups of water, since the Vitamix was straining. Also we added a bit extra garlic and blended the spices in; and since it's easier/faster, we'd cooked the chickpeas in the Instant Pot. The resultant hummus was easily the best we'd ever had, so good we just ate it by the spoonful!
 
Lena
Lena January 8, 2019
I love the idea of using sesame seeds, but I was not able to get them to blend. Not sure how that would work in a blender?
 
karen
karen July 12, 2024
I used my large food processor adding a bit of water after the initial blend because so low but all in all easier to clean because blade removes blenders are harder to scrape food out… IMHO