I have experimented with many different hummus recipes and
through trial and error, ended up with this one: My absolute favourite. While
hummus is mostly thought of as an Israeli dish, this recipe draws more on the
Turkish tradition of using the spices with the hummus.
Ingredients
250g dried chickpeas soaked overnight (or 500g tinned
chickpeas)
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp black pepper
2 red chillies de-seeded and roughly chopped*
1 tsp salt
1 tsp brown sugar
3 cloves garlic
100 ml Olive Oil
100g Tahini
Juice of 2 lemons (about 40 ml)
Handful of fresh coriander (leaf and stalks)
*For more spicy heat, leave the seeds in. For less heat, use
just one larger mild chilli.
Method
1.
After soaking the chickpeas overnight, they
should be boiled for 1 hour in good quality vegetable stock. (Skip this step if
you are using canned chickpeas)
2.
While the chickpeas are cooking, prepare the
spices: Dry roast the cumin and black pepper in a pan then grind them to a
course powder in a pestle and mortar. Lightly fry the spice powder, garlic
(whole), chillies and the fresh coriander (bash the stalks a bit before adding
to the pan) in olive oil. Add a pinch of salt and then when starting to brown,
remove from the heat and leave to marinate.
3.
Put the chickpeas into a blender. Save the
cooking stock as it may be needed later.
4.
Add all the other ingredients and blend to a
paste. Add some of the cooking water if needed.
To serve, sprinkle with smoked paprika. Great with raw sliced
vegetables, pitta bread or as a side dish.
