Aka hummus, hommos and even humus!
I’ve called this ‘A Taste of Houmous’ as it’s by no means a typical recipe. On the one hand, it plays fast and loose with traditional recipes by using a non-traditional ingredient, but on the other, it just applies logic to the ingredients.
I’ll explain: traditional recipes use whole chickpeas, and then some go through the laborious process of removing the skins for a smoother product; this one uses split chickpeas, channa dal, which have already had their skins removed. You can, of course, use whole chickpeas if you want to, or even tinned ones, although in my opinion, they’re generally not cooked sufficiently to make a good hummus.
I make this in small quantities. That said, it makes about 300 g (10½ oz), which is 50% more than many supermarket pots.
Ingredients
85 g / 3 oz Chana dal (approx. 200 g, 7 oz cooked)
75 g / 2¾ oz Tahini (about 5 Tbsp)
½ garlic clove, peeled – see below
Juice of half a lemon
2 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
¼ tsp salt
Sumac, olives and extra virgin olive oil to decorate.
Method
Firstly, put the chana dal on to cook. I do this in an Instant Pot; I cook the chana for 15 minutes on high in about 600 g of water, then let the pressure release naturally.
To cook it without a pressure cooker, rinse the dal, then soak it for about an hour in warm water before boiling it for 40-45 minutes until soft.
While the dal cooks, put the garlic in a small bowl and cover it with boiling water; leave for 10-15 minutes to soften slightly, then chop.
Strain the dal, retaining some of the cooking water.
Place everything (except the water) in a food processor and grind to a smooth paste; add some cooking water to get a consistency you like.
Serve in a dish and top with olives, sumac, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. It’s good with melba toast or, more traditionally, flatbreads.
I omit the garlic unless I’m using it immediately; I often have it on toast for breakfast, and I’m not keen on garlic first thing in the morning.
For a slightly lower-fat version, replace 1 Tbsp of the oil with cooking water (aqua fabia) from the chickpeas and reduce the tahini to 45 g.
Red Pepper Hummus
For a red pepper hummus, reduce the tahini to 15 gm (1 Tbsp) and the oil to 1 Tbsp. Add 150 g (5¼ oz) of either cooked bottled red peppers or cooked and skinned red peppers
