Print the recipe card! homemade hummus

Hummus is a tasty and healthy Mediterranean spread made from chickpeas/garbanzo beans. While these commercial Hummus Snack Packs are convenient, hummus is quite easy to make at home (and LOTS cheaper!). Basic hummus is an excellent addition to your FoodStorageCookbook because it is simple to make, requires no fresh ingredients and leftovers can be frozen or canned.

This spread can be used as a dip for veggie sticks, pretzels, crackers, pita or roti breads; or used as a spread on sandwiches and tortilla wraps instead of mayonnaise. I’ve provided the basic recipe here, roughly 1 quart, but you can make nearly endless variations with the addition of other pantry ingredients.

Ingredients:

½ lb (1 c) dried chickpeas/garbanzo beans, soaked overnight; or two 15 oz. cans
(*I show ground chickpea meal here, see Alternative Instructions for details)

2-3 c water, as needed

½ tsp baking soda

½  c tahini (or peanut butter – see notes)

¼  c lemon juice concentrate (or ½ c fresh squeezed, about 2 medium lemons)

¼ c olive oil (optional, see notes)

½ tsp garlic powder (about 4 cloves garlic or 1 tsp dry minced garlic)

1 tsp of ground cumin (optional)

½ – 1 tbsp salt & pepper, to taste

Conventional Instructions:

In a medium saucepan, combine soaked chickpeas, water, baking soda and a pinch of salt. Bring to boiling, reduce heat and simmer until tender (about an hour).

If using canned chickpeas, rinse lightly to separate them and thin the canning juice (reserving the liquid), add the beans and the liquid in a saucepan and gently reheat them.

Drain chickpeas, reserving liquid. Let stand until cool enough to handle (processing is easier when the beans are warm).

Process the warm chickpeas and other ingredients in a blender, food processor, or food mill. Add enough of the chickpea cooking liquid to get a texture similar to smooth peanut butter.

Alternative Instructions:

How I did it, since this is a spread anyway and I don’t have a blender.

Grind the dry chickpeas into a coarse meal using a grain mill with the corn/bean auger attachment or heavy grinding plate. If your grinder chute is narrow, you may want to put the dry beans in a dishtowel and pound them with a mallet or rolling pin to break them up a little so they don’t get stuck.

Begin on the coarsest setting,

and re-mill 3-4 times gradually reducing the setting until the beans are slightly coarser than cornmeal

In a large saucepan, add the bean meal and 3 times the water; bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 45 minutes to an hour until the paste is soft, no longer tastes raw, and the water has reduced. The consistency should be similar to cream of wheat or grits.

*Pre-grinding beans eliminates the long soak and cooking required for softening, which greatly reduces and simplifies processing over using whole cooked beans.  The cooked bean paste can easily be further smoothed into puree by hand with a spoon or pressed through a sieve or potato ricer a couple times.

Combine warm chickpea paste, creamy peanut butter (see notes), lemon juice, and seasonings with olive oil plus a drizzle of sesame oil. Mix with large spoon until smooth.

Notes:

• Standard bean conversion: 1 lb dry = 2 cups dry = 4-6 cups cooked/canned (chickpeas and lentils are closer to 6 cups). Substitute two 15 oz cans for each ½ lb of dry chickpeas.
• Tahini substitution: an equal amount of smooth peanut butter or grind dry white sesame seeds in a blender or food processor with olive or sesame oil until smooth.  You can eliminate the tahini/nut butter in a pinch, but the resulting dip tends to be slightly grainy and bland.
• You can use other vegetable oils in this recipe in lieu of olive oil. You can even omit the oil altogether if you prefer, but the resulting dip tends to be a little dry so add a little more of the cooking liquid.
• If you use peanut butter, a thin drizzle of sesame oil to helps to temper the peanut flavor.

Ideas for variations:

• Sun-dried, roasted or smoked peppers and tomatoes
• Dried, brined or oil-cured olives (any color)
• Marinated artichoke hearts
• Dry Veggie Powder Mix
• Try other beans! Black-eyed peas, navy beans and black beans make yummy hummus, too!