Hummus

I have spent years trying to perfect homemade hummus.  I wanted something as smooth and creamy as restaurant hummus, with that perfect balance of tahini and lemon.  I went so far as to manually remove the skins from each chickpea before blending (definitely not worth the time and effort involved!).  I have learned a few ticks over the years for creating restaurant quality hummus at home:

1. Dried chickpeas are essential to creating great hummus.  If you are starting with a can you have already lost.
2. The chickpeas need to be soaked overnight.
3. The addition of baking soda to the chickpea cooking liquid helps free the skins from the chickpeas, without any additional work on your part!
4. Great Middle Eastern hummus contains far more tahini paste than the containers you buy at the grocery store.  The usual ration is 3 parts chickpeas to 1 part tahini.
5. Puree your hummus for several minutes (at least) to ensure it is smooth and creamy.
6. Enjoy!

Hummus
Jerusalem: A Cookbook

1 ¼ cups (250 g) dried chickpeas
1 tsp baking soda
6 ½ cups (1.5 L) water
1 cup plus 2 tbsp (270 g) light tahini paste
4 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
4 cloves garlic, crushed
6 ½ tbsp (100 mL) ice-cold water
salt

The night before, put the chickpeas in a large bowl and cover them with cold water at least twice their volume. Leave to soak overnight.

The next day, drain the chickpeas. Place a medium saucepan over high heat and add the drained chickpeas and baking soda. Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the water and bring to a boil. Cook, skimming off any foam and any skins that float to the surface. The chickpeas will need to cook between 20 and 40 minutes, depending on the type and freshness, sometimes even longer. Once done, they should be very tender, breaking up easily when pressed between your thumb and finger, almost but not quite mushy.

Drain the chickpeas. You should have roughly 3 2/3 cups (600 g) now. Place the chickpeas in a food processor until you get a stiff paste. Then, with the machine still running, add the tahini paste, lemon juice, garlic and 1 ½ tsp salt. Finally, slowly drizzle in the ice water and allow it to mix for about 5 minutes, until you get a very smooth and creamy paste.

Transfer the hummus to a bowl, cover the surface with plastic wrap, and let it rest for at least 30 minutes. If not using straightaway, refrigerate until needed. Make sure to take it out of the fridge at least 30 minutes before serving.