Hummus Bi Tahine - Best Hummus Recipe I've Found yet !

mikey & ev's Note:

http://desertcandy.blogspot.com/2007/07/hummus-dilettante.html Cook time for canned chickpeas (add 1 hour for dried chickpeas).

• Total Time: 25 mins
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 6

Yield: 1.0 cup

• 1 1/2 cups dried garbanzo beans or 2 (15 ounce) cans chickpeas
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• olive oil (for serving) (optional)
• parsley (for serving) (optional)
• paprika (for serving) (optional)
• cumin (for serving) (optional)

Directions:

1. For dried chickpeas: Soak the chickpeas overnight in water. Drain, and place chickpeas in a pot and add fresh water to cover by at least one inch, gently rub the chickpeas against each other with your hands. Bring the chickpeas to a boil with a pinch of salt, skim the surface, then lower the heat and simmer until the chickpeas are tender, about 1 1/2 hours.
2. For canned chickpeas: Rinse the chickpeas, then place in a saucepan with water to cover by one inch. Put your hands in the pot and gently rub the chickpeas against each other. Place saucepan on the stove and bring to a boil and simmer until chickpeas are very soft: test a chickpea by squeezing it between your fingers, it should smush easily, this could take between 5 and 20 minutes. Remove from the heat, skim off any chickpea skins that have floated to the surface and discard them.
3. Place the garlic and salt in a food processor and pulse to chop. Add the tahini and lemon juice and process until the mixture is slightly whitened and contracted. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the chickpeas to the processor (don't discard the cooking liquid) and process until very smooth. Thin the hummus to the desired consistency with the reserved cooking liquid. Taste and adjust seasoning with lemon juice and salt.
4. To serve: spread hummus in a shallow bowl, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with spices if desired. Traditional accompaniments include pita bread, pickles, fresh mint, and hot tea.

Reviews

[Kristine at Food.com]

Just made this for a picnic/hike tomorrow. I was a little wary of the extra step of cooking the chickpeas (I used canned) but it definitely made a difference in consistency. If my first taste was any indication, I think it'll be a hit with my group. :)

[Newtime]

This hummus is excellent! Do read the linked article. Cooking the canned chickpeas is the key to getting the smooth texture of authentic hummus. I could never get it that smooth before. I discovered this recipe about the same time I discovered a fresh pita bakery/mediterranian restaraunt/grocerey store where I bought the ingredients. I will never buy my hummus ingredients in the supermarket again! The second time I made this hummus was for a group of international students at the university, and they seemed to like it because it was eaten up in no time! On that batch I went to the trouble of picking the skins off of all those chickpeas in a double batch. I would probably never go to that length for a family snack, but it was so silky smooth. I spread it in a foil cake pan, swirled the top, drizzled it with olive oil, and "decorated" it with pinches of cumin and paprika. Delicious!

[PamC]

Really good, even though I cheated and used canned, drained chickpeas without the simmering and removing the skins. No doubt it would have been creamier with that step, but mine was super fast and really delish anyway! I used some of the reserved liquid from the can to thin it a bit.