Confession. Hummus wasn’t my favourite dip. Until today. I recently tried a Hummus that was made with chickpeas that had been soaked overnight. I’ve used canned chickpeas and I will continue to – they are a good convenience product and one that I keep on hand in my pantry.
You can make a Hummus using canned chickpeas but try making this underappreciated dip with dried chickpeas. Much like dried beans, all they need are a night soaked in water and then a simmer for about 45 minutes. After that, a short cooling period and then you may add everything into your food processor to make a Hummus that will have your guests asking for the recipe.
The most basic of Hummus recipes consist of chickpeas, garlic, Tahini (sesame paste), lemon juice and olive oil. This recipe has all of these ingredients plus my own little preference for a little smoke from a roasted red pepper and a touch of heat with some dried Chillis (Boukovo).
Choose your own flavour accent but do take the time to soak your chickpeas overnight. You’ll be rewarded with a cheap, healthy and delicious dip that’s great for snacking or a stand-out on the appetizer tray.
Hummus
2 cups of dry chickpeas
1 tsp. of baking soda
1 medium onion, quartered
4 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup Tahini (sesame seed paste)
juice of 1 lemon
1 charred red bell pepper, peeled and seeded
up to 1/2 cup olive oil
pinch of chilli flakes (Boukovo) or to taste
salt to taste
- The evening before making your Hummus, place your dried chickpeas in a bowl with enough water to cover them and add the baking soda. Allow to soak overnight. (The addition of baking soda helps soften the chickpeas).
- The next day, drain and rinse. Add the chickpeas and your quartered onion into a medium-sized pot and enough water to just cover the chickpeas. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 45 minutes. Strain and allow to cool (reserve onions as well).
- After charring your red bell pepper and its cooled, peel the skins and remove the seeds. Chop and add to the food processor with the garlic and Tahini. Process until smooth. Now add the chickpeas plus onions, lemon juice, chilli flakes and process again until smooth. Now add the olive oil slowly in 1/4 cup increments. Taste and adjust with salt or any of the other ingredients you feel needs adjusting.
- Serve at room temperature with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and some crusty bread or wedges of pita bread. Keep stored (fridge) in an airtight container for up to one month.
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© 2007-2010 Peter Minakis
46 Responses
Mmmmm…I must admit to never having used dried chickpeas to make this classic dip, instead opting to use the canned variety. You’ve convinced me to give it a proper go..The charred capsicum is a nice touch too.
Chris loves hummus, we’re working our way through a batch he made last night. I have admit, we do use canned chickpeas though…I think having to do any more work than blitz everything in the food processor would turn Chris off making it!
Hi, I make hummus often and I get great comments each time. I have used both dried & soaked chickpeas as well as canned. The ultimate test has been to serve it for some friends that were visiting from Egypt and they said it was as good, if not better, than the original that they have their all the time. I ussually don’t put red pepper, as some people in my family don’t eat them. I would add to this recipe 1/2 to 1 tsp of ground cumin (according to taste), some drops of sesame oil and a little secret to fluff it up would be a couple of tbs of strained yogurt. When serving chop and sprinkle with some fresh flat leaf parsley. Another secret that makes dips really good is instead of using raw garlic, to roast it first or even better, I make batches of garlic confit with herbs in olive oil and it is great. Kalh Sarakosth (I am from Thessaloniki but live in Toronto – we spend our summers in Pefkohori of Halkidiki)!
Julie, all good suggestions, thank you! You spend your summers in Pefkohori? I have an uncle with a summer home there!
I agree, although it is good to sometimes grab the old tin of chickpeas, especially when unexpected quests arrive!!!
I love hoummous and is one of the mezedes served in Cypriot cuisine.
Wha? You don’t LOVE hummus? I don’t think a day goes by in California that I don’t eat hummus. I make it with every kind of bean imaginable and add all sorts of things, but maybe that makes it not really hummus. Chili flakes are a must, above all!
I didn’t expect it would make such a big difference wether you use canned or dried chickpeas. I have never used the dried variety but I am now very tempted to try this lovely dip with dried chickpeas instead of canned. I’ve had really good hummus but sofar I have not been able to recreate a really good one at home, so maybe that is the secret!
I am a big hummus addict! I could gobble that dip until I feel sick ;-p… Yours looks very tempting!
cheers,
Rosa
I agree i too have only used canned chickepeas, i must try once with the freshly cooked ones.
Love love hummus here at my home.
The thing is, when the hummus craving strikes I can’t wait for 24 hours to soak and cook the chickpeas! I need instant gratification. It is wonderful when I do have time though – the texture is better and I like to eat it still a bit warm.
A plateful of YUM! :)
I can’t say much about hummus cos I just tasted it for the first time last November, but I can say that I quite like it!
Hey Peter this looks like some tasty hummus! We make hummus all the time, but have never ventured away from canned chick peas. We really need to try soaking them. Thanks for the idea!
ΕμÎνα να σου πω την αλήθεια δεν είναι από τα αγαπημÎνα μου dip, αλλά αÏÎσει Ï€Î¿Î»Ï ÏƒÏ„Î¿Î½ ΔημήτÏη κι Îτσι το φτιάχνω.
ΣίγουÏα με ξεÏά ÏεβÏθια γίνεται καλÏτεÏο!
Φιλιά!!
I do enjoy hummus … and this sounds delicious. I like the red pepper addition.
I have a bunch of dried chickpeas so I’ll have to give this a go to taste the difference. Matt loves hummus as an afternoon snack
I’m a big hummus fan but admit to taking the easy way out…sometimes not even bothering with the can and buying prepared tubs in market. It’s my favorite healthy go-to snack…a carrot smeared with hummus. Since I don’t often do beans from scratch, I’m curious what baking soda does to the soak.
peter I love homemade hummus, and to be honest I’ve never tried using the dried chickpeas. but if you can do it then so can I.
Always a delicious appetizer and I like your addition of the heat and roasted red pepper. Your presentation is a lot nicer than the usual way of just a big bowl of the dip.
I have never tried hummus. I think. Perhaps once in London but I don’t remember the taste.
It’s always on my list on things to make though.
I never would have thought to use any other than dried chick peas.
I brought tahini from my recent visit to Greece so here’s a chance to utilize it!
Μάγδα
I’ve been wanting to try making my own hummus…I even bought the dried chickpeas…now I just need to do it!
I’ve never made it using dried chickpeas before -will have to give that a go, I’ve always used tinned
i LOVE hummus, and it’s one thing that i always prefer to make myself. i’m glad you can now fully appreciate this lovely beige spread. :)
I’ve always used canned chickpeas for hummus too, but recently I made a chickpea soup with dried ones. They really take it to a different level. Will have to try your hummus recipe.
This is the first time am visiting your blog and it’s very inviting. I’ve tasted hummus so many times but I never tried it before. Looks like I’ve found a gud recipe now am gonna try it soon. The pics is very nice and hummus looks delicious.
Can’t believe you did not like hummus. I like and make different kinds and love them all. This sounds so wonderful!
Looks great peter, i love hummus, and agree that the dried chickpeas are much better (don’t have that canned taste). You actually don’ t need to soak chickpeas overnight if you have a pressure cooker. I just put it in water, soak for about an hour and pressure cook for about 15 minutes, then let it come down to room temp without opening. Also if you use canned chick peas you can get rid of some of the canned taste by rinsing and soaking in a couple changes of cold water.
Marc, thanks for your suggestion. I do have a pressure cooker and I do use it but not for chickpeas for Hummus. From my experience, the chickpeas do crack open in the pressure cooker and they take in water – something I do not want to happen with chickpeas to be used for Hummus. My desire is to soften the chickpeas – not crack them.
I do however use this method (chickpeas in the pressure cooker) if I’m making a soup. The pressure cooker helps here with the speeding up the cooking time.
idont think i have seen canned chickpeas in crete yet – but they are always readily available in dry form
cooking from scratch requires planning – otherwise, it’s just a way of life
Well, since I’m used to soaking beans for everything else I can handle soaking the chick peas. I love hummus & haven’t had any for a while. I just got a new food processor so maybe I can break it in with making hummus!
I never liked hummus either, until last year when somebody brought an amazing dip for a Christmas party. Now I need to try your recipe. It sounds delicious!
Natural ingredients are always the best choice Peter! Canned chickpeas and dry seem to be from different worlds, don’t they? Your Hummus is Magnificus and Extraordinarious!! Ha, ha, have a good day chico!
We have a small family run business here in town that makes some of the most interesting combinations and offers them at the farmers market. I am not one to underappreciate hummus…I just love it!!!
I am so glad you are advocating using the dried beans! Considering your wide audience I was reading this and experiencing rapid palpitations, thinking “I hope he does’n’t tell them to add dried cilantro” Relief. As a Lebanese I am very proprietary about hummos and I don’t like to see it murdered. I will forgive you the addition of peppers at the end, heck, I might even try it! (maybe)
Joumana, I try to approach other cuisines with the notion that the natives would be delighted to try out the dish. The roasted red peppers are my own preference and one that I think works well in Hummus. I hope you try it (c’mon)! ;)
I love to sprinkle dark, fried garlic chips on top of that!
How can you not like hummus?? I agree though, it is much better with soaked chickpeas. I keep some when I make “revithia” soup so tHt I always have them available in the freezer for those unexpected hummus cravings!
Ioanna, back then I didn’t like anything with chickpeas at all but that’s changed in the last few years. As for Hummus, I insist that the better ones are from soaked and then simmered chickpeas. The canned variety will make a decent Hummus but the slowfood version – can’t be beat.
Your recipe is a good one, especially with the use of dried chickpeas which makes all the difference. I agree with the tasteofbeirut that Middle Easterners tend to be very conservative with their hummus recipes- they like only traditional. I usually make mine very plain and added garnishes to the top- parsley,cumin, toasted pinenuts , pepper flakes are very popular.
Great looking hummus! I will have to try using the dried chickpeas next time. I agree that adding a roasted red pepper and a bit of heat is always nice!
Agreed I recently discovered “humus” months ago in the sense of something delicious to eat at home, also fairly healthy.
I found a recipe on the humus blog that claims its a know it all on all things hummus – it was amazing. I’d post a link but I don’t want to impose on your web traffic or nothing.
the recipe i found used garlic and also cumin in the humus. Theyre both great, cumin gives it another dimension in taste, and garlic just tastes amazing/ is healthy.
Its definitley become my favourite dip, and you are so right about the chickpeas – the difference between dried and canned is massive.
I tried making with canned chickpeas for convinence once, and it just had that canned taste. Dried and cooked has a much fresher taste that makes a big difference.
Boukovo and peppers in the hummus I’ll be sure to try next.
Easy, but just perfect. Love the addition of chili flakes! I always enjoy playing around with hummus recipes.
Where did you get the idea for adding red pepper? I just saw on Kano’s blog that he came back from Damascus and the folks there are serving a hummos with red pepper paste in it and cumin! A first! What is going on? At least in Lebanon we stick with the authentic and the pure!
syrianfoodie.blogspot.com
Can’t wait to try this. I just got a new food processor and I need to use it. I like good hummus and this is definitely good looking.