thebigfatnoodle

Home-made beats shop bought yet again: easy peasy hummus

Standard · Posted by thebigfatnoodle on April 20, 2012 · 16 Comments 

Perfect TV or party snack food.

Easy as long as you don’t mind the washing up

I’ve had a can of chickpeas sitting in my cupboard for almost a year – that’s how long it’s been since I’ve wanted to try making my own hummus.

Sooooo many people have said that hummus is easy to make but when you work a busy nine to five, it’s not always ‘so easy’ to want to get your food processor set up, measure out all of the ingredients and then deal with the washing up when you know any supermarket or corner shop will have tubs that you can buy.

I’ve also always known that home-made hummus must taste so much better, I’ve read enough blogs and recipes that say so, but I finally put it to the test myself last weekend.

I’ve based my recipe on a very, very simple one I found on the BBC website, and what I’ve discovered I like most about making my own hummus is the fact that there’s so much leeway to tinker with the taste. I’ve already made two batches to test out on my friends.

I've finally found a good use for the extra toasting racks that came with our toaster 🙂

That said, while I will definitely try and make hummus from scratch from now on, I can’t say that I won’t still pick up a tub or two from the supermarket simply because if I’m in a rush, it’s just more convenient. It’s not so much the making of it that’s the hassle, it’s the cleaning up! 🙂

I love eating hummus with fresh carrots and celery sticks but my favourite is to eat it with some toasted wraps. I often find pita bread far too doughy or thick for my liking, and I love the seeded wraps I can get so what I do is cut my wraps into strips and simply toast them to make them crispy and crunchy.

It works a treat and people are always surprised by firstly how they look, and secondly how tasty they are. The strips are the perfect receptacle for scooping the hummus off the plate and into my mouth!

Most people won't realise these are simply toasted wraps. My favourite are these seeded wraps.

Lots of love

Thebigfatnoodle

Click here for a printer-friendlier recipe.

A healthier way of snacking. Home-made hummus made easy!

Easy peasy home-made hummus

1 can chickpeas (approx 200-220 grams), drained and washed – retain about 1 tablespoon of chickpeas)

100ml tahini

2 teaspoons ground cumin (though I preferred my first batch, which used 2 teaspoons of whole but toasted cumin seeds)

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 cloves garlic, peeled

4 tablespoons water

½ teaspoon hot paprika

1-2 good pinches of salt

Black pepper

Extra lemon juice for squeezing over the finished hummus

A pinch of sweet smoked paprika (to sprinkle on the finished hummus)

2-3 tablespoons of good olive oil

Easy peasy hummus.

In a good processor, put your chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, paprika, water, hot paprika, cumin and a good pinch of salt and blitz for a couple of minutes until smooth. Taste and season with more salt, lemon juice and pepper as required.

In a small saucepan, heat your olive oil and then gently fry your remaining chickpeas with a good pinch of salt.

Ladle your blended hummus on to a plate, top it with your fried chickpeas and pour all of the olive oil over the hummus as well. Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkle of sweet smoked paprika and black pepper.