For years I’ve had a very basic hummus recipe–chickpeas from a can, lemon juice, tahini, garlic, olive oil and salt, all dumped into the food processor and whirled until pulverized. It was fine as an occasional lunch item, sometimes spread on a flour tortilla with some veggies and rolled up to make a wrap. I would also make it for occasions when I thought I absolutely had to serve some kind of appetizer, say if people were coming over to watch the Super Bowl. But it wasn’t something I ever got too excited about it. I liked it, but it wasn’t an obsession.
I had noticed a couple of things in passing, though. One was that the hummus at a local Middle Eastern place that we like, The Damascus Grill, had hummus that was almost like mayonnaise–creamy and light. I just figured that they must really, really whip it with some kind of industrial food processor. And then, on what is probably my favorite cooking blog, The Smitten Kitchen, there was a recipe for hummus in which you peeled the chickpeas. Ridiculous! I thought. Who does that? No way! So when I did the food for a wedding reception recently I wanted to have two dips and thought my usual hummus would fill the bill for one of them. Everybody likes hummus, right? And it would be cheap and easy. I figured I’d give the mixture a couple of extra minutes of processing time and that it would be fine.
Well, it wasn’t. Much as I kept whirling it around it remained the same stodgy stuff, perfectly suitable for mundane use but not exactly fancy. (In retrospect I realize that I could have/should have added more liquid, which would have helped at least a little bit.) Hardly any of it was eaten, and I knew that it would get moldy before I ever ate it up. So . . . I threw the leftovers away. And I got to thinking, ‘Huh–maybe that whole peeling-the-chickpeas idea isn’t so daft after all.’ I still had a can of chickpeas in the pantry and decided to try it. Well, it took just about forever. But the result was pretty good. So I did some bopping around on the web, learning far more than I ever wanted about getting the skins off chickpeas. Some recipes/techniques have you use baking soda as a way to soften the skins and get them to slip off, but this technique was mainly mentioned in the context of cooking dried ones. America’s Test Kitchen has a baking soda technique for canned beans, but I didn’t find that it worked very well. I’m including the video below, though. Then I saw a video of a guy using his meat grinder to make hummus, and he said that the skins were left behind using that method. I figured I could use my ricer or food mill. Either one would work, as they strain out anything that won’t go through the holes. A ricer is usually used to make lump-free mashed potatoes; a food mill will make smooth sauces from items such as tomatoes, straining out the skins and seeds. You can also buy skinned dry chickpeas, for a small fortune. I have some regular dried chickpeas that I’ve had on hand for literally years–who knows if they’ll even soften–so I’m going to give the baking-soda method a try with them. In the meantime, just keep in mind that in some form or fashion the chickpea skins have to go. Deb Perelman over at SK says it took her only nine minutes to peel a can’s worth one by one, but that’s just not workable if you want to make a big batch. (Although I wonder how many batches of the little critters I could have peeled by hand in the time I’ve spent trying to find a faster way to do it. Sigh.)
I also discovered that there was a controversy about whether or not to mix the olive oil into the hummus or just drizzle it on top. Smitten Kitchen said not to mix it in, and her hummus looked like clouds. Other very authentic recipes also left out the olive oil in the mixture. But I thought that maybe a small amount of oil would add richness. Then I had an idea: Why not add a little toasted sesame oil to the hummus itself and then drizzle the olive oil on top? Best of both worlds, as it were. We think of toasted sesame oil as belonging to Asian cuisine, but it’s made from the very same sesame seeds as tahini. I did a little bopping around online and found that, as usual, I wasn’t the first to come up with this idea. You do need to be very restrained in adding the sesame oil, as it’s quite strongly flavored.
So, here’s a list of all the tips that I’ve run across to make the hummus the stuff of dreams. Following these tips will add a few minutes to the prep, but you’ll end up with something that everybody wants to eat:
- Peel the little suckers using one of the methods I discuss above.
- Use enough tahini to make a flavor statement. (Some recipes, including my old one, have you use as little as 1/4 cup for a 1-can recipe, but that’s not enough to give the desired flavor. SK uses 1/2 cup, which I think is a good level.)
- Add a little sesame oil for richness without weighing down the hummus clouds.
- Whip the tahini and sesame oil together before adding anything else, looking to get the tahini light and fluffy.
- Use cold liquid to add for getting the desired thickness/texture. Again, there’s controversy about whether to use liquid from the beans or plain water. I’ve opted for now to use the bean liquid. Just drain some of the liquid from the can into a container with some ice, let it get cold, and then pour the requisite amount into the food processor as needed.
Here’s my best-for-now version. I have to say, it’s pretty good! I’ve also included directions below the recipe for making your own chips.
Light(er) and Fluffy(er) Hummus
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup good quality tahini well stirred*
- 1-2 tablespoon s toasted sesame oil optional
- 1/4 cup lemon juice**
- 2-3 drops lemon oil*** or 1 tsp. lemon zest optional
- 1-2 cloves garlic pressed or to taste
- 1 can chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 - 1/2 cup cold water or liquid from canned beans
Instructions
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Put tahini and sesame oil, if using, in the smaller bowl of your food processor or in your blender.**** Whip for at least two minutes to make the tahini as creamy as possible.
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In the meantime, peel the chickpeas, using your choice of technique.
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Put the skinned, drained chickpeas and everything else except the water/bean liquid and process for at least 2 minutes. Then add the liquid, a couple of tablespoons at a time, until you have a light, creamy result. Scrape out and store in a covered container in the fridge. Should keep for a week, but if you've made it correctly it won't last that long!
Recipe Notes
*Some recipes have you use only 1/4 cup of tahini for this much hummus, which makes the sesame flavor very unobtrusive. I like the sesame hit from this larger amount and also from the addition of sesame oil. Various authentic recipes give recommendations for authentic tahini, but those brands are often available only at a Middle Eastern grocery store or online. Poor quality tahini can be bitter (which may be caused by rancidity of the sesame seeds) or so badly separated that it's almost impossible to re-combine. If you just want to buy what's on the shelf, look to see if there's a lot of oil on top, an indication that the product has probably been sitting for a long time. Some brands don't come in clear containers, though. In general, I think it's probably fair to say that with the popularity of this ingredient there's been an uptick in quality. Try smelling and tasting a new brand/jar before using it. If it seems off, take it back.
**I always point out that I just use bottled citrus juices. If you do use fresh lemon juice, a good-sized juicy lemon may give you as much as 1/4 cup. I have a more generous allowance of lemon juice than most recipes.
***If you use fresh lemon juice you might as well use the zest, too, being sure to zest the fruit before slicing and juicing. (You knew that.) If you're using bottled juice and want an extra hit of lemon flavor, use the lemon oil. Best way to keep this and other types of citrus oils on hand is to buy Boyajian Inc Boyajian Assorted Pure Citrus Oil, Set of 3 and keep them on hand in the fridge. You use so little at a time that your set of tiny bottles will last you months if not years, and it keeps forever. (Amazon affiliate link)
****Sad to say, you'll never get the full whipped effect for this recipe unless you have a high-speed blender. But I refuse to buy an appliance that I have no other need for. Hey, Smitten Kitchen uses a food processor, and her stuff looks great. Just be sure to give the final mixture 2-3 minutes of processing before you declare it finished. (My mother-in-law, bless her, says that I can use her VitaMix blender the next time I make a batch. Stay tuned.)
If you’d like to make your own chips to go with this, you can follow the directions on the Sally’s Baking Addiction blog for actual pita chips. (They do sound really good–I plan to make them sometime. The chips are included in her version of hummus with Parmesan cheese, which I also plan to make sometime.) Or you can do what I do and use Mission 100% taco size whole wheat tortillas to make very thin, almost flaky chips. Here are the steps:
1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Run water over each tortilla–this will make them steam a little and get flaky. Making four tortillas’ worth at a time will fill up a regular pan.
3. Spray a rimless baking sheet with vegetable oil spray, then spray each side of the tortillas with the spray. Stack them back together.
4. Use a pizza cutter to cut the tortillas into 8 wedges. Spread the wedges out on the pan, using your space as efficiently as possible by alternating their positions. (I’ll be sure to take a photo the next time I make these.)
5. Sprinkle lightly with salt.
6. Bake for 7-8 minutes, until lightly browned and crisp.
These are great for hummus or guacamole. You can’t make very many at one time so you don’t have the chips-in-the-pantry temptation. I store unused tortillas in the freezer.
Here’s the ATK video showing how to remove the skins. It may work better for you than it did for me–there seems to be a fair amount of disagreement in the comments.