Levantine hummus bi tahini, made with dried chickpeas, tahini, lemon and garlic, and served with a drizzle of olive oil.
A bowl of hummus set down in the middle of the table, and hands reach for it before everyone has even sat down. You tear off a piece of still-warm pita, drag it through the hollow where the olive oil glistens, and up comes the creamy chickpea purรฉe, just warm, bright with lemon, mellow with sesame.
Paprika colors the edges, parsley adds a little green, and the garlic comes through just after. Once you’ve tasted homemade hummus this smooth, the supermarket kind seems awfully heavy.
What Is Hummus?
Hummus is a purรฉe of cooked chickpeas blended with tahini (sesame paste), lemon juice, garlic and a little cumin. From Lebanon to Palestine, by way of Syria and Jordan, it is served spread over a flat plate and drizzled with olive oil, among the other mezze: raw vegetables, olives, pickles, falafel or small fried turnovers similar to samosas.
Its full name, hummus bi tahini, means โchickpeas with tahiniโ in Arabic: hummus simply means chickpea. The spelling varies by country and language: houmous, hoummous or hummus.
From Medieval Cairo to Lebanese Mezze
Chickpeas have been grown in the Near East for about 10,000 years, and sesame has been pressed for oil there since antiquity. The first written recipes resembling hummus date from the 13th century, in cookbooks from Cairo and Aleppo. In them, the chickpea purรฉe is seasoned with vinegar, herbs, spices and nuts, a far cry from today’s simple version.
The recipe as we know it appears in 1885 in a Lebanese cookbook by Khalil Sarkis: boiled chickpeas, tahini, lemon and garlic, spread on a plate, with olive oil and chopped parsley on top. The hummus in this recipe is built on the same basics.
In Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan, it is eaten at breakfast as much as at lunch, often alongside falafel. It is scooped up with bread, rarely eaten with a spoon.
The Main Ingredients in Hummus
It all starts with dried chickpeas. They need to soak overnight, but they make a more flavorful, smoother hummus than canned chickpeas, which are a fallback for when you’re in a pinch. Baking soda added to the soaking water softens the chickpeas and their skins, just as in the baking soda method used for meat.
Tahini brings the sesame flavor and the creamy texture. It separates in the jar, with the oil on top and the ground sesame seeds at the bottom: stir it well before weighing it, and taste it, because some brands are bitter or salty. Fresh lemon juice, garlic and a little cumin round out the mixture. For a more indulgent version, a little fried garlic on top adds crunch.
Extra-virgin olive oil never goes into the food processor, because blending turns it bitter. It is poured on at the end, into the hollow and over the surface, along with a little paprika, parsley and a few whole chickpeas. Warm pita is for scooping it up, and naan will do the job if you can’t find any.
Technical Pointers for Silky-Smooth Hummus
The chickpeas need to be very well cooked, more than for a salad: a chickpea should squash between two fingers with no resistance. Allow about an hour of simmering, but go by tenderness rather than the timer.
Removing the skins is optional, but it is what gives the smoothest texture. Blend the chickpeas while still warm with the garlic, lemon, cumin and salt, add the tahini, then the cold water a little at a time. The mixture sometimes thickens when the tahini meets the lemon, which is normal.
The hummus is ready when it is pale, smooth and slightly glossy, and a hollow made with a spoon holds its shape without slumping. It thickens in the fridge: loosen it with a little cold water before serving, and add the olive oil at the last minute.
Ingredients
Soaking the Chickpeas
- 200 g chickpeas dried
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Blending the Hummus
- 2 cloves garlic fresh
- 60 ml lemon juice fresh
- 0.5 teaspoon cumin ground
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 120 g tahini stirred well in the jar
- 180 ml water cold
Plating and Serving
- 2 tablespoons olive oil extra virgin
- 0.25 teaspoon paprika (optional)
- 1 tablespoon parsley fresh, chopped (optional)
- A few chickpeas whole cooked (optional)
- pita bread warm
Instructions
Soaking the Chickpeas
- Spread the dried chickpeas out on a plate or tray.200 g chickpeas
- Pick out any small stones, damaged chickpeas and debris.
- Rinse the chickpeas thoroughly under cold water.
- Place the chickpeas in a large bowl, since they swell considerably as they soak, and cover them with plenty of water.
- Add the baking soda, which softens the chickpeas and their skins.1 teaspoon baking soda
- Let soak for 6 to 8 hours, or overnight.
- By the end of soaking, the chickpeas will have swelled noticeably and give more easily when pressed between your fingers.
Cooking the Chickpeas
- Drain the soaked chickpeas and rinse them several times in clean water to get rid of the soaking water and any remaining baking soda.
- Transfer them to a large saucepan and cover with several centimeters of fresh water.
- Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to maintain a gentle, steady simmer.
- Skim off the foam that forms on the surface early in the cooking.
- Continue cooking until the chickpeas are very tender, more so than for a salad: a properly cooked chickpea crushes almost completely between two fingers, with no resistance.
- Keep an eye on the water level as they cook and add hot water whenever needed so the chickpeas stay submerged.
- Cooking time varies with the age and type of chickpeas: judge by tenderness, not just by time.
- Drain the chickpeas, reserving a little of the cooking water, which can be used to fix the texture.
- Rub the chickpeas or rinse them gently to remove as many loose skins as possible.
- Removing the skins is optional, but it gives a smoother texture.
Blending the Hummus
- Put the still-warm chickpeas in the food processor bowl: while warm, they bind much better with the tahini and lemon.
- Add the garlic, lemon juice, cumin and salt.2 cloves garlic, 60 ml lemon juice, 0.5 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon sea salt
- Blend until you have a coarse, even paste.
- Scrape down the sides of the food processor while blending so that all the chickpeas are blended evenly.
- Add the tahini and blend again.120 g tahini
- The mixture may thicken briefly when the tahini meets the lemon and chickpeas: this is normal.
- Leave the food processor running and pour in the cold water gradually, never all at once.180 ml water
- Keep blending until the hummus is pale, smooth, light and easy to spread with a spoon.
- Taste carefully, then adjust: lemon juice if the flavor lacks brightness, salt if it tastes flat, tahini if it lacks sesame flavor, a little cold water if the texture is thick.
- Blend for another one to two minutes after adjusting: this extra blending lightens and refines the texture.
Plating and Serving
- Transfer the hummus to a flat serving plate or a wide bowl.
- Spread it outward with the back of a spoon and make a shallow well in the center.
- Pour the extra virgin olive oil into the well and over the surface.2 tablespoons olive oil
- Garnish with paprika, parsley and a few whole chickpeas.0.25 teaspoon paprika, 1 tablespoon parsley, A few chickpeas
- Serve with warm pita bread.pita bread
- Set the dish in the middle of the table with fresh vegetables, olives, pickles, falafel and other mezze.
