Hummus: Additives, Techniques, Recipes

[JAZ]

Does anyone make hummus without a food processor or a blender? How was it made before electricity? My food processor packed it in and I am getting tired of buying the store's hummus.

Before I had a food processor I used a potato masher with good luck. I used the kind where the business end is a plastic plate with circular holes in it. Not as easy as the food processor, but not that bad.

I wonder if a potato ricer or food mill would work.

[andiesenji]

Does anyone make hummus without a food processor or a blender? How was it made before electricity? My food processor packed it in and I am getting tired of buying the store's hummus.

Before I had a food processor I used a potato masher with good luck. I used the kind where the business end is a plastic plate with circular holes in it. Not as easy as the food processor, but not that bad.

I wonder if a potato ricer or food mill would work.

The food mill works fine for the chickpeas but you need something else for the sesame seeds if starting with whole ones. If using tahina/tahini, it will work just fine.

[sabg]

there is a greek restaurant near me that i love and they do a mashed chick pea spread with oil and garlic and some lemon that is delish...i always od on the warm pita...they leave out the sesame

[baca008]

I really like jalopenoes and cilantro hummus. It is really delicious.

[TheCulinaryLibrary]

Apart from the basics of chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice, a little onion, parsley and olive oil an essential edition, if you like the light creamy version is to use only water hulled organic tahini and once all the above ingredients are blended and seasoned, add water a little at a time, tasting as you go. Your hummus will take on a lighter, paler texture and then you can taste and adjust the lemon, salt and pepper.Don't worry if it seems too soft because once transferred to a serving dish and refrigerated, the oil will make the set firmer. We always reserve some whole chickpeas and oil for drizzling into an deeply indented decreasing spiral groove. Sprinkle finally with a hot or sweet smoked spanish paprika.

[ddueck]

I can't believe I didn't think of a potato masher. I have been plugged in for two long. After reading this forum I am going to go home to experiment.

Thanks all!

[Hassouni]

FYI, especially to whoever said it doesn't need tahina, cf. hummus bi tahina...

hummus is just the generic word in Arabic for chickpeas. If they're whole in a salad, a soup or in something like balila, they're still called hummus. Hummus bi tahina/tahini (Regular Arabic vs Lebanese accent) is the actual name of the dip that everyone loves so much. It's usually shortened to hummus, because every other dish featuring them is called something else.

Me, I'm still on the elusive quest for Leb resto-quality smoothness at home...

[andiesenji]

FYI, especially to whoever said it doesn't need tahina, cf. hummus bi tahina...

hummus is just the generic word in Arabic for chickpeas. If they're whole in a salad, a soup or in something like balila, they're still called hummus. Hummus bi tahina/tahini (Regular Arabic vs Lebanese accent) is the actual name of the dip that everyone loves so much. It's usually shortened to hummus, because every other dish featuring them is called something else.

Me, I'm still on the elusive quest for Leb resto-quality smoothness at home...

I personally know of three different restaurants (one Israeli, two are Greek) who make hummus with chickpea flour.

This is the smoothest I have ever experienced and I suspect that some other restaurants use the same technique.

I know the ingredients are mixed together and cooked for a few minutes to get rid of the "raw" taste of the flour but have no idea of the amounts as it is made in large batches, several times a day.

[Chris Hennes]

I was just wondering if that would work yesterday, Andie, as I waited around for my chickpeas to cook. It seems like you ought to be able to cut way down on cooking time if you ground your chickpeas first (or of course simply bought chickpea flour).

[Hassouni]

well I bought some dried hummus for the first time ever, let's see if doing it proper old school doesn't come out smoother...

[andiesenji]

Here's a recipe adapted from a package of Bob's Red Mill Garbanzo bean flour.

Hummus from garbanzo flour

I just made a small batch using this formula except I did not use the chicken broth or Tabasco sauce. I mixed a little olive oil in while cooking, maybe two tablespoons, and topped it with argan oil, zaatar and a few pinches of Aleppo pepper when finished.

Very tasty and very creamy. The only textured "bits" in it are tiny shreds of garlic as I didn't mash it into a smooth paste.

Edited March 26, 2012 by andiesenji (log)

[Hassouni]

It seems to me slightly unlikely that *every* restaurant and cafe in Lebanon is using chickpea flour. I wonder if they just have commercial grade blenders? If you did it from beans in a BlendTec, I wonder how that'd turn out....

[Chris Hennes]

I made mine in the Blendtec yesterday: if you make sure to strip the skin from the chickpeas it winds up very, very smooth. If you leave the skin on you have a coarser texture.

[heidih]

I bought a can of chickpeas from the discount store and dumped them with their liquid into the food processor. After adding the usual suspects and running for several minutes it was really creamy. I suspect they may have been a tad "overcooked". Somewhere I read about folks running them in the FP or blender for as long as 10 or more minutes. My bowl has no bits or discernable graininess and would make a lovely creamy soup with a bit more thinning.

[andiesenji]

It seems to me slightly unlikely that *every* restaurant and cafe in Lebanon is using chickpea flour. I wonder if they just have commercial grade blenders? If you did it from beans in a BlendTec, I wonder how that'd turn out....

I can make very smooth and creamy hummus from either canned or soaked and cooked chickpeas in my Thermomix, or in small batches (not more than 2 cups) in my VitaMix, but never had much success in a food processor or regular blender.

Once burnt out an Oster blender making sesame paste.

Edited March 26, 2012 by andiesenji (log)

[Will]

I think removing the skins is a big part of getting a creamy texture. I haven't tried the cooking with baking soda technique mentioned earlier in the thread, but I've heard that's another secret, at least for Israeli style hummus.

Also, using a lot of tahini (more than you might think would taste good), and (for certain styles of hummus), try not adding oil. I have seen the suggestion to mix the tahini, lemon juice, and maybe the garlic first, and then add the chickpeas to that.

Edited March 27, 2012 by Will (log)

[Hassouni]

OK, so made a batch with chickpeas I soaked last night and boiled today with baking soda.

Removing the skins was a MONUMENTAL PAIN IN THE BUTT. It took at least half an hour and even then I didn't get them all. They didn't really float, and I had to remove most of them one by one.

But, this is definitely the smoothest hummus I've ever made, and that was in a standard issue, medium-sized Cuisinart.

Is there any way to remove the skins without wanting to just throw it all down the sink? Is it possible to get split dried chickpeas?

[andiesenji]

I got some fresh chickpea flour today (posted in Middle East Groceries) and am going to try a batch.

I also got a can of Hommos Tahina - I've never tried this and am interested in both the texture and the flavor.

It's a big can so I will wait till I have guests to open it.

[Katie Meadow]

Never having made hummus from chick pea flour I can't comment on it, but my intuition tells me that I would rather use high-quality jarred chick-peas if saving time is a major factor. I've used dried whole chickpeas, rehydrating, cooking etc. and find I can make hummus I like just as much using the Annalisa jarred ones, and I don't seem to have a problem with the skins. I find there is definitely a difference in texture and flavor if the chickpeas are packed in glass rather than metal. I use an old cuisinart processor, not a blender, and if enough oil and water and/or pea-broth is added, the end result is plenty smooth, at least to my taste.

[Hassouni]

I got some fresh chickpea flour today (posted in Middle East Groceries) and am going to try a batch.

I also got a can of Hommos Tahina - I've never tried this and am interested in both the texture and the flavor.

It's a big can so I will wait till I have guests to open it.

I wouldn't get my hopes up about the can, they're usually not very good. What brand is it?

[TheTInCook]

The hummus I made this weekend had little bits of 'grit' in it no matter how much I pureed it. The beans took forever to get soft. I was using a normal pot, no soak, no salt, no soda, and the beans stayed underwater the entire time. Definitely going to use baking soda.

[Franci]

I've almost never had a problem of hard chickpeas and I don't use baking soda, but I soak 36 to 48 hours changing water every 12 hours and in summer I keep in the fridge. I followed also Nourishing Traditions advice and soaked with lemon (or whey) not sure it made a huge difference in texture. I should try again with the same batch of chickpeas.

I also was wondering about Heston Blumenthal 10% brine for beans if works for chickpeas to get uniformity in cooking. I'll give it a try and report back.

I have seen the suggestion to mix the tahini, lemon juice, and maybe the garlic first, and then add the chickpeas to that.

This made the best hummus I ever made! It was much lighter, fantastic.

Removing the skins was a MONUMENTAL PAIN IN THE BUTT. It took at least half an hour and even then I didn't get them all. They didn't really float, and I had to remove most of them one by one.

The fastest way I tried is to remove the skin before cooking, after the chickpeas have been soaked. I put them on a sheet pan and covered with a towel an rolled and crushed with a rolling pin. I tried in the past with little success but I was too gentle.

Now, it's still a pain because while it was easier to remove the skin I had to go one by one anyway. Now I'm thinking of just crushing them before cooking and then cooking and see at that point in the skins float on top of the pot.

Honestly, a food mill, with the smallest holes, I think does the job well enough.

I got some fresh chickpea flour today (posted in Middle East Groceries) and am going to try a batch.

I also got a can of Hommos Tahina - I've never tried this and am interested in both the texture and the flavor.

It's a big can so I will wait till I have guests to open it.

Well, you have a thermomix for cooking it. I hate cooking chickpeas flour because it is prone to lumps and you need to stir constantly. I guess you need to diluite quite a lot. Here they make "cakes" (panisse in french, panissa in italian) which are sliced and panfried.

[EnriqueB]

I've almost never had a problem of hard chickpeas and I don't use baking soda, but I soak 36 to 48 hours changing water every 12 hours and in summer I keep in the fridge. I followed also Nourishing Traditions advice and soaked with lemon (or whey) not sure it made a huge difference in texture. I should try again with the same batch of chickpeas.

I also was wondering about Heston Blumenthal 10% brine for beans if works for chickpeas to get uniformity in cooking. I'll give it a try and report back.

Hi Franci, why such long soaking times? 12 hours should be enough, according to McGee and also to my experience. The 10% brine (again following McGee) works perfect for me with chickpeas: salt in the soaking water makes later cooking faster. I soak in 10% brine (100% dry beans, 300% water --not hard--, 30% salt) for 8-12 hours, then 10-12 minutes in salted non-hard water in the pressure cooker at high pressure, natural release, and always get perfect soft chickpeas.

[Franci]

Hi Franci, why such long soaking times? 12 hours should be enough, according to McGee and also to my experience. The 10% brine (again following McGee) works perfect for me with chickpeas: salt in the soaking water makes later cooking faster. I soak in 10% brine (100% dry beans, 300% water --not hard--, 30% salt) for 8-12 hours, then 10-12 minutes in salted non-hard water in the pressure cooker at high pressure, natural release, and always get perfect soft chickpeas.

It has happened to me a couple times that I had an old batch of chickpeas, on those rare occasions a longer cooking didn't help. Then I'm not sure how reliable are the studies out there but many claim that longer soaking is benificial in the lowering of phytic acid. In doubt and if I remember, longer soaking doesn't hurt.

So, this morning I had chickpeas soaked for 48 hours, last night I added a good handful of coarse sea salt to the water.

I threw the chickpeas on a sheet pan, covered with a towel and crushed a little with a rolling pin

Not too bad. More effective would be a little at a time. I didn't remove the peels and decided to remove everything after cooking. Cooked in the pressure cooker for 30-40 minutes. Oh, these were surely old chickpeas...but after that they were soft enough.

I poured the chickpeas on a tamis and reserved the liquid. It was pretty easy and fast to pick the peels. I didn't do a perfect job because next step was passing them through the food mill.

In a bowl I whipped lemon juice, garlic and tahin. Then with an immersion hand blender I whipped the tahin mixture with the chickpeas, plus oil.

I added a little bit of cooking liquid to the chickpeas...ahi! That made the hummus too runny for my liking. Otherwise the color was nice and also the texture. The specks are cumin (a little coarsely grounded). My last batch was much nicer.

[EnriqueB]

Franci, those must be really old tough chickpeas!