Regardless of whether olive oil goes in the hummus or drizzled on top, how would you list the following ingredients in order of how prominently you should taste them (seasoning omitted):
Chickpeas
Tahini
Lemon
Olive Oil
Garlic
That’s my ordering. Maybe lemon and olive oil can be swapped, depends on the weather.
I would put garlic before olive oil, but otherwise we are in agreement.
Chickpeas
Lemon
Olive oil
Garlic
Tahini
Chickpeas
Tahini
Garlic
Olive Oil
Lemon
I like a LOT of garlic in my hummus, although I will say that the less garlic there is, the more lemon there should be. I also like a lot of tahini, probably more than you find in most commercially-made hummus. Even more important than the flavor balance is the texture, though. I can’t abide pasty or grainy hummus.
Chickpeas
Olive oil
garlic
lemon
tahini
I’m with the OP. I’ve (husband) ruined it before with too much garlic, so I use 1 clove now for an entire batch.
My grandmother’s recipe did not include olive oil in the purée but certainly on top
I would like the recipe for hummus . Start another thread , or just post it here . Thanks ( never made it but love it )
This is my current favorite. Note that you HAVE to use good tahini. Not that you would use crap tahini, but there’s a lot of it in this recipe, so it’s important. Also note that I prefer less salt and more cumin and lemon juice, but I’m not you, so you do what you think is best.
1 cup dried chickpeas
2 teaspoons baking soda, divided
4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
1/3 cup (or more) fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more
2/3 cup tahini
1/4 teaspoon (or more) ground cumin
Olive oil (for serving)
Place chickpeas and 1 teaspoon baking soda in a medium bowl
and add cold water to cover by 2". Cover and let sit at room temperature
until chickpeas have doubled in size, 8–12 hours. Drain and rinse.
Combine soaked chickpeas and remaining 1 teaspoon baking
soda in a large saucepan and add cold water to cover by at least 2". Bring
to a boil, skimming surface as needed. Reduce heat to medium-low, partially
cover, and simmer until chickpeas are tender and really falling apart, 45–60
minutes. Drain; set aside.
Meanwhile, process garlic, lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon salt
in a food processor until coarsely pureed; let sit 10 minutes to allow garlic
to mellow. Strain garlic mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl,
pressing on solids to release as much liquid as possible. Return liquid to food
processor; discard solids. Add tahini and pulse to combine. With motor running,
add 1/4 cup ice water by the tablespoonful and process (it may seize up at
first) until mixture is very smooth, pale, and thick.
Add chickpeas and cumin and process, occasionally scraping
down sides, until mixture is extremely smooth, about 4 minutes. Thin with more
water if you prefer a looser consistency; taste and season with salt, more
lemon juice, and more cumin as desired.
Spoon hummus into a shallow bowl, making a well in the
center, and drizzle liberally with oil. Top as desired.
Wonderful , Thanks for the recipe small-h . We have great tahini here in Santa Cruz . I’ll be sure to use the best .
I hope you like it. And credit to Michael Solomonov of Dizengoff, whose recipe it is.
This is also my favorite lately! The technique for the lemon and garlic looks fussy but is worth it.
(Note the measure is for kosher salt or other flakey salt)
Chickpeas
Tahini a very close second
Lemon juice
Garlic/salt should be in the background
Olive oil as a garnish ontop
*I like mine fluffy and silky smooth, the texture is a dealbreaker for me too
During my college days, we had an Israeli cafe right off campus. Their hummus remains my favorite till this day. No matter how much I prodded, they wouldn’t give much away. I figured out on my own that there was no olive oil mixed in, just poured on top, and that’s how I do it now. They did tell me, however, that tahini – not chickpeas – was the primary ingredient. Did they make it in house? Or where did they source it from? No way they would tell. Back then, chickpeas were generally more flavorful and I could still taste the chickpeas through all that tahini.
Thanks for sharing the technique for extracting garlic flavor without the solids. Anytime I have a recipe with raw garlic and acid, I always let the garlic “pickle” for a while, but I never thought to strain the solids for a smoother result.
Some pointers I would like to add…
As small_h’s recipe stated, use baking soda during both soaking and cooking of the chickpeas.
The ice cold water makes a difference. Recently I added room temp water thinking it will get cold in the fridge anyway, but it didn’t work out. Even though my mixture ends up warm after processing it for so long, it combines better if the water is ice cold to begin with.
I have an old, cranky food processor with a motor that always smells like it will burn out. I want to buy a new one, but no matter how hard I try, the stubborn thing won’t fail. Anyway, the long processing time makes a difference, especially if you haven’t removed the chickpea skins. For me it’s 7 minutes. If my processor can make a smooth hummus, any processor can. Just keep going and going.
Although tahini can sit on the shelf a long time, it will develop three layers after a while: oil on top, sesame “water” in the middle, and a leaden sesame “paste” on the bottom. Once it gets in this state, I am unable to ever homogenize it again. At least this happens with all the Lebanese brands I purchase. I stir my peanut butter all the time, no problem, but I can’t fix old tahini.
Could you recommend a specific brand?
Yes, Soom.
My garlic trick is to mash the garlic with salt to make a smooth paste
I have used baking soda in my chickpeas but found the mash to be pasty so have left it out
The soda imparts a slight flavor, too. How long do you cook the chickpeas for? It takes me hours if I don’t use soda.
To me, it tastes a little like sulfur. Until I made hummus with baking soda myself, I identified that flavor as egg yolk, from mayonnaise.
I use a pressure cooker. If I don’t soak them then about 40 min at pressure plus a natural release. Half that time if you soak
