chickpeas are a favorite at home. usually with chickpeas, i end up making either punjabi chole or chana pulao. i must have made umpteen versions of punjabi chole at home. and we simply love chickpeas cooked with indian spices and masala.
food blogging gives me the advantage of not only posting the traditional and regular recipes but also trying new recipes at home and then posting them. its such a joy to try out unknown recipes, take good shots and then write about them.
one such recipe i am in love with is hummus….. so you see hummus is made with chickpeas…. mine and hopefully your favorite legume too.
if you have never had hummus or don’t know what it is… this post will tell you that and please do try making hummus at home. you are going to love it.
i remember having hummus first time as a ten year old with falafel and pita bread in mumbai and i liked it so much. i asked my mom to make it for me and she did not know how to make it. i don’t blame her as these are not indian recipes and we do not make these at home.
the taste and aroma of that particular pita bread stuffed with falafel and hummus still lingers in my memory.
after a gap of many years, the second time i had hummus was when, a dear friend maitreya made it for all of us… about 18-20 people. it was such a bland hummus… poor maitreya… i don’t blame him for that. he was making it for the first time and that too for so many people.
maitreya, if you are reading this post, than you must try this hummus recipe. its a fantastic one and you are going to love it.
when i searched online for hummus recipe, there were many i came across. i settled for this one from about.com. a few recipes, i have tried from about.com and they have also come out good.
i have made a few changes to this basic hummus recipe and that is adding garlic, red chili powder and black pepper powder.
for this hummus you need tahini. tahini is a famous middle eastern spread made from sesame seeds. if you do not have tahini, then what will you do?????
simple answer my friend…. just add powdered sesame seeds to hummus. in the indian household, generally, one may not find tahini, but one will find sesame seeds, especially in the winter season. problem solved… job done….
hummus is great as a spread on sandwiches or burgers. you could also have it as a dip with fried, roasted or steamed veggies. best is to have hummus with pita bread. even it tastes good with garlic naan or butter naan.
i usually make extra hummus and keep it in the refrigerator. stays good for 4-5 days.
before we start, i have used dried chickpeas which require soaking them for a good 8-9 hours and then cooking them without salt. i always cook soaked chickpeas in a pressure cooker as its quick and does not take a long time. the chickpeas have to be really cooked well. they should be easily mashed when you press them between your fingers.
so lets start step by step hummus recipe:
1: take the roasted sesame seeds in a blender or dry grinder and finely powder them.
2: now take the thoroughly cooked chickpeas, garlic, all your spices and salt in a blender or wet grinder. either add the powdered sesame seeds to it or vice versa. this is what i did. firstly, i powdered sesame seeds in a blender. then added chickpeas et all to the powdered sesame seeds in the same blender.
3: oh… where are the garlic in the above pic… these are at the base and you cannot see them… so here is another pic for you with the garlic taken at some other time.
4: add lemon juice and olive oil.
5: blend to a smooth paste. while blending if its difficult, then add some chickpea stock to the blender. if you love olive
oil like me, then you can add some olive oil instead of the stock. whilst the hummus was blending, i remembered i had to add one herb to it, which i had forgotten. there goes some parsley in the hummus. you can use coriander leaves/cilantro if you don’t have parsley.
6: serve the hummus with warm pita bread or with steamed or roasted veggies…. whilst serving you can also add some olive oil to the hummus… enjoy
… the extra hummus can be stored in an air tight container in the refrigerator.
hummus recipe details below:
- 1 and half cup chickpeas, soaked in water for 8-9 hours and then cooked till soft
- ½ cup olive oil… add more if required
- 2-3 garlic
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- ½ tsp red chili powder or cayenne pepper
- ½ tsp black pepper powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder/jeera powder
- ½ cup roasted and powdered white sesame seeds or ½ cup tahini
- a few sprigs of parsley or coriander/cilantro
- salt as required
- roast the sesame seeds and then powder these finely.
- take the cooked chickpeas, all the spices, parsley, salt and garlic in a blender.
- add the powdered sesame seeds, lemon juice and olive oil.
- blend to a smooth paste.
- serve the hummus with warm pita bread garnished with a few sprigs of parsley
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
but this receipe has to be cooked in olive oil only not any other cooking oil?? I personally dont like the smell of olive oil.
dear neela, hummus won’t be hummus if not made with olive oil
you can use other oils, but my suggestion would be to still add olive oil. what olive oil does to hummus no other oil can do.
you won’t get the real taste of hummus without olive oil and tahini. its the sesame seeds and olive oil that bring out the real taste and flavor of hummus. otherwise its just mashed chickpeas with some spices.
Hi…you may want to look at foodblogandthedog.wordpress for inspiration too. She certainly has a way with adjusting/augmenting different styles etc. with excellent results.
I’ve made a number of the foods and can highly recommend.
dear tony, i am already following natalie’s blog and have subscribed to it.
you are right, she has way with cooking great food and i am sure the results are excellent. i still have to try her recipes, but living in india i do not get some of the ingredients. but i will try some of her recipes in which the ingredients are easily available here.
Hi Dasanna
I stay in Middle East region i.e., Qatar and I am a big fan of your blog and recipes especially dry aloo gobi. I regularly eat pita bread and hummus with TAHINI sauce here…as this is the regional food available abundantly over here.
This recipe is nice ! and thanks for posting..
thanks bhargavi
generally we don’t get hummus and pita bread here. tahini is available. and i am a fan of middle eastern food like baba ghanoush, tabouleh and the yummy baklava.
Great photos! That looks like a perfect creamy hummus
thanks chinmayie for admiring the photos…. i am still learning photography and have so much to know and remember….