Easy Hummus Recipe (With Sesame Seeds)
Hummus is a traditional middle eastern dip or spread made with dried chickpeas. It is the most popular recipes made with chickpeas. This hummus recipe is a really good one and you are going to love it. Its creamy, smooth and so good. Follow my step by step photos and video to make a delicious batch of homemade hummus from scratch.
About Hummus Recipe
Hummus is a popular middle eastern dip or spread made with chickpeas. A basic hummus recipe is made with cooked chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, garlic and olive oil. All the ingredients that go in the making of hummus are healthy. Making hummus from scratch is easy and you can just whip it up easily in a food processor or blender.
From the time I first had hummus (with falafel and pita bread ) as a ten year old and till today, its one of my most favorite recipes made with chickpeas along with Chana Masala. I have been making hummus for many years now. Sometimes I use leftover cooked chickpeas after cooking chickpeas for chana masala and make a small batch of hummus, which I serve as a dip with vegetables.
While preparing hummus tahini is required. Tahini is a famous middle eastern spread made from sesame seeds. Now you may or may not have tahini in your kitchen.
In this hummus tahini is not at all required. Instead of tahini, sesame seeds are added and powdered. In the Indian household, generally, one may not find tahini, but one will find sesame seeds, especially in the winter season.
Also do note that hummus can be made without tahini or sesame seeds. So you can skip sesame seeds in this recipe. But when you do so, do reduce the proportion of olive oil, garlic and lemon juice.
Homemade hummus can be refrigerated and stays good for 4 to 5 days.
How to make Hummus
1. Rinse ½ heaped cup dried chickpeas (120 grams) in water first and then soak in enough water overnight or for 8 to 9 hours. After soaking the chickpeas will double in size and volume.
2. Next day, rinse the chickpeas in water first a couple of times. Drain all the water and add the chickpeas to a 2 litre stovetop pressure cooker.
3. Add ½ teaspoon salt.
4. Add 1 pinch of baking soda. Adding baking soda softens the chickpeas really well and gives them a melt in the mouth texture.
5. Add 1.5 cups of water.
6. Pressure cook on a medium heat for 11 to 12 minutes.
7. When the pressure settles down on its own in the cooker, then only remove the lid and check the chickpeas.
8. Mash them with a spoon or with your fingers. You should be able to mash them completely. They should have no rawness in them. You can even taste them and there should be no bite in them. They should melt in the mouth.
If they are not cooked properly, then add some more water and pressure cook for some more time. Drain all the water. Cover and keep aside.
Roasting sesame seeds
9. Heat a small pan. Keep heat to a low. Add 3 tablespoons of white sesame seeds.
10. On a low heat stirring often roast sesame seeds.
11. Roast till they become crisp and start crackling. No need to brown them. Let them cool down.
Making Hummus
12. In a food processor, mixer-grinder-blender or food chopper take the roasted sesame seeds. For a food chopper use a really good and sturdy food chopper.
13. Powder it to a fine or semi-fine texture.
14. Add 1 teaspoon chopped garlic.
15. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. 1 tablespoon lemon juice works fine for us. To increase the tang more, you can add overall 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. So add as per your taste.
16. Add 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or about ¼ cup.
17. Sprinkle salt as per taste. Do note that the chickpeas will also have some salty taste in them as salt was used when cooking chickpeas. So add less salt first. Later you can add more salt if required.
18. Add 1 teaspoon cumin powder.
19. Grind or blend to a fine or semi-fine consistency.
20. Next add the cooked chickpeas. You can reserve a few chickpeas for garnishing.
21. Grind or blend till smooth and light. If you are unable to grind, then add 2 to 3 tablespoons of water. Hummus is ready now and all you need is to scrape the jar and place hummus in a serving bowl or bowls.
22. While serving make a round pattern with a spoon on the hummus. Drizzle a bit of extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle paprika or red chilli powder or black pepper powder or any of your favorite spice powder. You can also sprinkle zaatar. Garnish with a few chopped coriander leaves or parsley leaves and the reserved chickpeas.
Serve hummus with pita bread or with steamed or roasted veggies. The remaining hummus can be stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.
Serving Suggestions
Hummus is great as a spread on sandwiches or burgers or wraps (rolls). It is also served in a lebanese meze.
You could also have it as a dip with fried, roasted or steamed veggies and even with the exotic, flavorful fusion snack of Paneer Shawarma.
Best is to have hummus with pita bread. Even it tastes good with garlic naan or butter naan. We even have hummus with chapatis and parathas. Sometimes I make wraps with falafel and add hummus as a topping in the wrap.
Variations
Some herbs or greens or roasted vegetables can be added while blending. So depending on the flavors you want you can add the herbs or greens. so you can make various variations in a basic hummus recipe.
- Example herbs like coriander leaves (cilantro) will give you a nice green colored, lemony and aromatic hummus.
- Adding some blanched spinach, will give you a super healthy and nutritious spinach hummus.
- Roasted beets or carrots or red bell peppers can also be pureed when making hummus.
- I also make a variation of hummus with avocado which tastes great.
Expert Tips
- Use dried chickpeas – The best hummus comes from using dried chickpeas and not canned chickpeas. So yes do take some time to soak chickpeas and then cook them. A pressure cooker is great resource for cooking chickpeas thereby saving time. i always cook soaked chickpeas in a pressure cooker as its quick and does not take a long time. Soaking dried chickpeas in water takes 8 to 9 hours. So you can easily soak chickpeas overnight.
- Cooking chickpeas really well – to get a nice creamy smooth hummus, the chickpeas have to be really cooked well and become mushy. They should be easily mashed when you press them between your fingers. Any raw bits in the chickpeas, can ruin the hummus.
- Peeling chickpeas or not – Some hummus recipes call for peeling chickpeas. Now peeling chickpeas takes a lot of time. I don’t peel chickpeas when making hummus. Even without peeling them you can get a smooth hummus. But if you want a really super smooth hummus, then take some time out and peel the chickpeas.
- Tahini vs sesame seeds – both tahini and sesame seeds work very well while making hummus. I have used both tahini as well as sesame seeds at different times – and both of them give a good taste. So in this recipe you can add either tahini or sesame seeds.
- Olive oil – one of the ingredient that I always recommend while making hummus is olive oil. So do use a good quality extra virgin olive oil. It does make a remarkable difference in hummus in terms of flavor and taste.
Few more similar recipes you may like are:
Step by Step Photo Guide Above
Ingredients
for pressure cooking chickpeas
- ½ cup heaped dried white chickpeas, 120 grams soaked in enough water for 8 to 9 hours or overnight
- 1.5 cups water
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 pinch baking soda
Other ingredients
- 3 tablespoons white sesame seeds or 2 tablespoons tahini
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon chopped garlic or 4 to 5 small to medium garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Cumin Powder
- salt as required
For garnishing
- extra virgin olive oil, as required
- red chili powder or paprika or cayenne pepper – as required
- black pepper powder, as required – optional
- a few sprigs of parsley or coriander leaves (cilantro leaves)
- zatar, as required – optional
Instructions
Cooking dried chickpeas
- Rinse ½ heaped cup dried chickpeas (120 grams) in water first and then soak in enough water overnight or for 8 to 9 hours.
- Next day, rinse the chickpeas in water first a couple of times. Drain all the water and add the chickpeas in a 2 litre stovetop pressure cooker.
- Add ½ teaspoon salt, 1 pinch of baking soda and 1.5 cups water.
- Pressure cook on medium heat for 11 to 12 minutes.
- When the pressure settles down on its own in the cooker, remove the lid and check the chickpeas.
- Mash them with a spoon or with your fingers. You should be able to mash them completely. They should have no rawness in them. You can even taste them and there should be no bite in them. They should melt in the mouth.
- If the chickpeas are not cooked properly, then add some more water and pressure cook for some more time. Drain all the water. Cover and keep aside.
Roasting sesame seeds
- Heat a small pan. Keep heat to a low. Add 3 tablespoons white sesame seeds.
- On a low heat stirring often roast sesame seeds.
- Roast till they become crisp and start crackling. No need to brown them. Let them cool down.
Making hummus
- In a food processor, mixer-grinder-blender or food chopper take the roasted sesame seeds.
- Powder it to fine or semi-fine texture.
- Add 1 teaspoon chopped garlic, 1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 1 teaspoon cumin powder and salt as per taste.
- 1 tablespoons lemon juice works fine for us. To increase the tang more, you can add overall 2 tablespoons lemon juice. So add as per your taste.
- Add salt as per taste. Do note that the chickpeas will also have some salty taste in them as salt was used when cooking chickpeas. So add less salt first. Later you can add more salt if required.
- Grind or blend to a fine or semi-fine consistency.
- Next add the cooked chickpeas.
- Grind or blend till smooth and light. If you are unable to grind, then add 2 to 3 tablespoons water.
Serving hummus
- Hummus is ready now and all you need is to scrape the jar and place it in a serving bowl or bowls. Make a round pattern with a spoon on the hummus.
- Drizzle a bit of extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle paprika or red chilli powder or black pepper powder or any of your favorite spice powder. You can also sprinkle zatar. Garnish with a few chopped coriander leaves or parsley leaves.
- Serve it with warm pita bread or with steamed or roasted veggies. The extra hummus can be stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.
Video
Notes
- In place of olive oil, you can use neutral tasting oil like sunflower oil.
- Instead of dried chickpeas, you can use 2 cups cooked chickpeas or canned chickpeas in the recipe.
Nutrition
This Hummus Recipe post from the blog archives first published in January 2012 has been republished and updated on 5 September 2021.
This recipe is better than the ones available in restaurants.
Thank you. Glad to know you enjoyed it — especially since hummus is such a classic.
The recipe was really good. It was better than the market one. Thanks.
So glad you enjoyed it. Happy to hear it turned out even better than the store-bought and market versions. Thank you for the lovely feedback.
Hi! The cumin should be roasted? I tried the recipe without cumin it was good. I want to add cumin this time but I don’t know if I should use roasted cumin.
Hi Srijana, the cumin is not roasted. You can add cumin seeds instead of cumin powder.
Hi, this was very good but way too watery when I made it.
Glad you liked the flavor! The hummus shouldn’t be watery if the proportions are followed. Did you happen to use canned chickpeas or add extra water? I’d be happy to help troubleshoot.
Super easy to follow!
Thank you.
Didi, this hummus has been a revelation for my kids. Thanks for sharing the recipe. It’s finger licking good.
Thanks so much and glad to know that your kids liked it.
Easy and precise.
Clear explanation with proper steps, thank you 🙂
Welcome and thanks.
Perfect
Thanks.
Came out awesome ????
Thank you for this feedback and the rating as well.
What is the shelf life of this hummus?
Keeps well for 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator.
This recipe was delicious! The toasted sesame is a game changer. I added sambal olek to mine just as an experiment and it turned out so good I couldn’t stop eating it. Thank you Dassana!!
Thanks a lot. Glad to know. I am sure the addition of sambal oelek must have been delicious. Most welcome.
We love hummus and it’s came out perfect by following your recipe!!
Thank you and nice to know.
Can we avoid lemon juice since I am allergic to lemon. Is there a replacement for lemon juice?
Just skip it. Lemon juice gives a faint tangy taste in hummus, but if you are allergic then just skip.
Hi , just wanted to ask , can this be used as a spread for making bread sandwiches ? Will it taste good ? It seems a healthy option
yes you can use hummus as a spread for sandwiches. it tastes good and will be filling. you can add some vegetable toppings to make the sandwiches more tastier and healthier.
Thank you so much. Will try 🙂
There are so many kind of olive oils in the market , which one do u suggest for this recipe
najia, i use extra virgin olive oil.
Found your site while looking for what goes into hummus and thought I’d share details of my experiment with sprouted chickpeas here…
Had packed my son’s snack box today with sautéed chickpea sprouts – just added a pinch of garam masala, salt, red chilli powder and a clove of minced garlic to mask the typical stench of soaked chickpeas and was left with just over half a cup of it. Hadn’t cooked the chickpeas since they seemed tolerably crunchy but my son may violently disagree!
Anyways, inspiration struck. Pulsed the sprouts with 2 more cloves of garlic, whole black pepper, and half a teaspoon of roasted jeera, dhaniya, Bengal gram dal and sesame powder ( leftover again from my tamarind rice recipe preparation) , a tablespoon of olive oil…and what do you know…though nowhere near the consistency of a dip, the just-moist powder tasted divine! Your recipe mentions lemon juice…maybe that would have helped blend it to a paste and given it some tangy flavour or maybe not having cooked the chickpeas was the reason.
Am a non vegetarian who turned vegan a few months ago but I know the taste of a winner for the whole lot of them! It reminded me of the yummy cutlets mum used to fry for teatime and tasted like the patties did before they were fried. This is the closest I’ve gotten to something veg mimicking the taste of a non vegetarian recipe. Yippee!!
The point of sharing this story here – you don’t even have to cook the sprouts to make a sprinkly flavourful hummus!! Mine were 2 days old – kept just moist after an overnight soak. So good luck with your next batch of chickpea sprouts if you are running out of time!
Thanks Arifath for sharing your experience and the suggestion. I am sure it will help some readers. Do try some recipes from the blog which has both pure vegetarian recipes and vegan recipes.
This was yum… I had made the Lebanese Hummus from an Arabic youtube blogger. It was nice but felt a little bland. Then I tried your website( you are always my go to food website, as I always know it would taste good). Your recipe was perfect for the Indian palette. Absolutely loved it. Going to make it tomorrow for the second time. This time I would use a little less coriander as last time I added a lot and coriander overtook the chickpeas taste. Thank you for taking out the time and effort to keep our taste buds going.
thanks a lot harry. i have had the authentic hummus in restaurants and for my taste too i have felt it slightly bland. you can always add less or more spices as per your requirements. regarding coriander, less is better as too much of it can be overpowering. thanks again.
Can we replace chickpeas with moong, or Bengal gram, or rajma, or other Indian pulses and have ready protein rich pulses paste to be used as a spread???
(Remaining recipe being the same)
you can use both moong and chana dal. i am not sure about rajma though, as it can be slightly bitter due to rajma. you can use as a spread on toast or chapatis.
Loved the recipe… Makes the perfect consistency. I had to use it up the same day, so used less olive oil and used more of chickpea stock. I served it with garlic naan.
Thanks Shweta for your positive feedback. Glad to know this.
The recipe calls for 1.5 cups of cooked chickpeas? Or 1.5 cups uncooked chickpeas which need to be cooked? I am assuming the first one, according to quantity of other ingredients..but still it will be nice if you mention it out clearly ma’am.
the recipe calls for 1.5 cups dried chickpeas. i have mentioned dry chickpeas in the recipe card. i think you missed reading it. its mentioned very clearly. the spices and oil you can add as per your choice.
Hi, I did not get a chance to soak the chickpeas for 8 to 9 hrs. About 3 hrs.
Is there a way I can still make the hummus right away ?
Zeba, soak them in hot water for one hour.
This looks so tempting.. shall try it this week!
Btw.. apart from your recipes, i also love to read the little intro/story that you write about them!
sure nia. some food and some recipes have special memories with most of us. so i do write about them. thanks for liking that.
For how long should we cook chickpeas in oven?
chickpeas have to be cooked in a pressure cooker or a pan//pot with enough water till they are cooked completely. they are not cooked in oven. if pressure cooking, then cook in 3 to 3.5 cups water for 15 minutes on a medium flame. if they are not cooked well, then continue to pressure cook for some more time.
Thank you!
welcome 🙂
Thanks for the great recipe
welcome and thanks abhishek 🙂
I love you. Thank you for doing such a great job! None of ur recipes have failed me ever… Trying falafel tomm!
glad to know this thank you for your positive feedback. surely try and let us know how falafel was?
I have followed the recipe instructions as written I’ve achieved good results thanks very much.
welcome keneiloe and thank you so much.
Can we use some other oil in place of olive oil
nishtha, you can use neutral oil like sunflower oil.
I think I added more chikpeas, hummus didn’t turn out well. Will give it another try.
if you add more chickpeas, then you also need to increase the quantity of other ingredients. you can try next time 🙂
Thanks for this wonderful recipe.I did a combi of roti, hummus and falafel for our lunch today. It was a gr8 success. I couldn’t try pita bread as my active dry yeast has expired.Better luck next time.
pleased to know this kavya 🙂 and thankyou.
Very simple and now there’s no need for me to order this from my Greek and Turkish shops and restaurants. It’s fresher and tastier and I can make it quickly..
thanks rohit 🙂
can u please post recipe for chutney for momo’s. the spicy red chilli one
perineeta, i have noted down the recipe request. mean time you can try this spicy red chilli garlic chutney – https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/red-chutney-for-chaat-recipes/
Excellent recipe. I tried it today and it came out very well. I had always wanted to try hummus at home but never did since I didn’t have tahini handy. Thank you for posting this recipe.
welcome gayathri. glad to know that you liked the recipe.
love it! This is first recipe I ever cooked other than omelette.. amazingly simple and tasty..thanks.
thats nice to know. thanks for the feedback.
nice recipe
thanks madhavi
I tasted hummus for the first time today. Something about it reminded me of Indian food. I’ve found your recipe and I thank you for taking the time to post it online.
welcome elizabeth. thanks for your kind words.
Can i use vegetable oil. I dont have olive oil.
riya, olive oil is traditionally added. one of the main flavor in hummus is of olive oil. without olive oil, the taste will not be authentic. if you are OK with this then you can use any other oil or vegetable oil.
Thank you for the simple yet amazing recipe!
My humus turned out just great!!!
welcome shaguna
Hey Dassana…I loved the way you described the hummus recipe with the pics..one can easily understand by this way..thnx for the efforts taken by you to explain everything in detail wid nicely clicked pictures..I will surely try hummus the way you shown here and will let you know..thnx..
thanks kavita. glad to know that you liked the recipe presentation.
Very good recipe
thanks purshottam
Wow!! In one go i read all three recipes of yours…of falafel,,pita bread n hummus. Now please tell me some detailed serving suggestions. .as i hv not yet had these yummy looking delights. .bt had only heard about them.
Thanks a lot for your wonderful blog dear. .God bless!!:)) im writing for the first time to any blog.
Seems now i know where to turn for my cooking experiments needs!;))
hi sugandha, generally the pita bread is sliced and in their pockets, falafels are kept with tahini and a salad. usually the salad is a middle eastern pickled salad. but you can choose any veggies or combination for the salad. even you can add hummus or serve hummus as a side dip. basically they are like stuffed pocket sandwiches.
Awesome recipe , yummy …..
Dear Dassana, I have tried many recipes from this site and they are very good. Specially the pics you attach makes one remember the recipe like nothing else. Will try the Hummus and thanks for the sesame seeds tip, I want to make this tomorrow and didn’t have time to go to the market and buy Tahini paste.
thanks shilpi for the positive comment. happy cooking 🙂
Dear Dassana, I had made your way of alu chole last night and it turned out to be awesome!!! Thank you for the lovely recipe 🙂
Since I have some leftover channa from last night, which I had boiles along with salt, I wanted to know if I can use it for making this hummus? To rephrase, I have salted boiled chana. Will that make a difference if I try hummus with it?
thanks navitha. you can make the hummus with the salted boiled chana. no issues.
Hey dassana nice recipe i ate this in dubai i think its an arabic dish i will try this soon
thanks maya. yes, its a middle eastern dish.
i try it……
Hi Dassana,
I have just made this, and I have no yeast with me. So currently enjoying the hummus with chopped carrot sticks. A perfect healthy snack. I loved your pics and description! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
thanks and welcome varsha.
Hello
I have just made this style humous and it is delicious.
I would like to make lots of other humous with more Indian spices, do you know any more?
Thankyou.
Mike in England.
i have not tried any other indian variation. only once i had made roasted red bell pepper hummus. the taste was different. you can add some ground coriander powder or even a dash of garam masala powder to give an indian touch.
i would suggest the classic plain hummus is really great. its my most favourite dish. i went to dubai many times but when ever i had hummus, they never mixed any spices in that, just classic. even i tried in hyderabad, they gave me the same hummus as it was in dubai.
thanks vinnu for sharing your inputs on hummus.
Hello, you used 1 1/2 cup of dry chickpeas? or this is the amount of cooked chickpeas that you need for this recipe?
Thank you
ramona, i have used one and half cup of dried chickpeas.
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….
I will try this. Thanks a lot for the recipe, with all the ingredients readily available in my kitchen.
welcome sindhu surely try hummus recipe and let us know your feedback 🙂 thank you