Aye Chef - Cooking with style

Hummus (a transliteration of the Arabic: حمّص‎; also spelled hamos, houmous, hommos, hommus, hummos, hummous or humus) is a Levantine Arab dip or spread made from cooked, mashed chickpeas, blended with tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and garlic. It is a popular food throughout the Middle East.

There are a lot of humus varieties out there and sky is the limit when it comes to humus recipes and ingredients. It is said that to make a really good humus, cooking alone is not enough, you have to invest a part of your soul in it, but that can be said of any kind of food. A really good humus recipe is a closely guarded secret and each humusia (restaurant that serves only/mostly humus) weight it's own in gold, never to be revealed.

Personally, I like what is called masbaha or mashvaya variety - whole cooked chickpeas served on top of a humus, with very liquid tahini and spices.

Ingredients (makes 1 kg)
400g chickpeas, smallest kind
150g tahini
olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
juice from 1 lemon, freshly squeezed

Preparation
Soak the chickpeas overnight in water.

The best way to cook the chickpeas in minimal amount of time and without adding baking soda is to use pressure cooker. This way, instead of the normal 12 hours cooking period, you can have it ready in 3-4. So, strain the liquid, put chickpeas inside the pressure cooker, add clean water to cover plus 2 fingers, close and cook on small heat for 3-4 hours or until chickpeas are very soft. You should be able to squish one between your fingers with minimal to none amount of force when ready. Rinse in cold water and leave to cool down a bit. Save cooking liquid, you'll need it later.

Next is the most annoying part, getting the shell off. Chickpeas have a somewhat transparent shell that keeps the meat inside. After cooking, it comes off, but not entirely. After many tries, I've found out that it is best to throw it away or else the result mixture will be too grainy. If you want a really good and smooth humus, you'll have to separate the inside from it's shell. While you can do it by hands, going one after the other is very time consuming and annoying process. Instead, try rolling them inside a towel a few times, but do not apply too much pressure or you'll squish the peas altogether. Trial and error.

After you cleaned your chickpeas, it is time to wrap it all together. Put a bit of peas aside and throw the rest inside Magimix or similar food processor, using cutting blade. Mash it all up a bit, add some (1-2 tablespoons) of the cooking liquid and repeat until you have a smooth paste that is neither liquid, nor solid. Then add tahini you prepared in advance, again, be very careful with the amount, because you don't want it to become too liquid. The proper way is to add a bit, give it a spin and see if it's of the right consistency.

Now add the lemon juice, cumin and paprika, give it another spin and taste. Correct flavor with salt.

Transfer humus to a hermetically sealed container (when it comes in contact with air it spoils), cover with olive oil to keep it longer and seal.

Congratulations, you've made your very own humus.

Plating arrangement
Humus is traditionally served on a wide plate, completely covered with a thin layer of humus, with tahini in the middle. Also, put the saved cooked chickpeas on top of tahini, spread some finely chopped parsley on top of it, sprinkle the whole thing with sweet paprika, cumin and black pepper and pour some olive oil on the sides.

Serve with pita bread.