Homemade Hummus Help

[cjferg]

Have a giant bag of dried chickpeas I'm trying to use and tried to make hummus the other day but had a really weird texture. Don't want to waste loads of olive oil experimenting and it not working.

I just soaked them overnight - should I have cooked them too?

Is it just better to use tinned chickpeas?

Or any other good ideas for dried chickpeas?

You need to boil them untill soft.
Then add tahini paste, garlic, olive oil and lemon.
HTH

You have to cook them. The tinned ones are cooked.

Dried chickpeas that have been soaked overnight are good for falafel.

You do need to cook them!

Ah, thanks, I thought so. Will have another go with renewed vigour!

nothruroad

Been thinking of doing falafel but dh not much of a fan. Possibly going to add spinach or something to the mixture.

I've heard on good merit that less oil and some cooking water added makes a consistency more akin to shop bought hummus

More tahini, less olive oil. My favourite houmous recipe (from Yotam Ottolenghi's Jerusalem book) has no olive oil at all!

Agree with no oil - that was just sthg restaurant owners added to bulk it out. Tahini is oily enough. For perfect results rinse the chick peas a few times during boiling, change the water a few times, and remove the skin. . .

I was actually thinking of trying it out without tahini because I can't find it cheap.
Is this perhaps wishful thinking?

Or any other good ideas for dried chickpeas?

They are a bit of a faff (soak overnight then cook for an hour) so I do the whole bag in one go and freeze the results. I then have as many or as few as I need, so I can throw a handful into mediterranean dishes like chicken & chorizo cocida or lamb tagine.
Chickpeas are great for padding out a meal if you have an unexpected extra mouth to feed!

Back to the hummus: if you don't have tahini then peanut butter can be an acceptable substitute. Or use a bit of sesame oil, if you have any.

senua

I got this HUGE bag reduced a while back. I think I'd have to do them in batches or get a chest freezer for that to work haha

Good idea with the peanut butter. I did actually try using some toasted seseme oil I had, but again, didn't want to waste too much when it wasn't working.

Tahini is essential for me I'm afraid - won't really taste like houmous without it. Have you had a look in the world food aisle at the supermarket? I tend to get it from there in a plastic pot. Depends what parts of the world your local supermarket favours though!

rosettesforjill

I'm in a studenty area so there is a lot of Asian stuff (not complaining, I love it) but not a massive amount of anything else. Might be worth checking Lidl when they do their special weeks I guess.

Side note: anyone ever made halva by mixing tahini and honey? SO GOOD.

Peel the chickpeas, seriously it's not as tedious as it sounds, just squeeze between finger and thumb and skin slips off. This will make a really creamy hummus if that is what you are after.

Another vote for peeling the chickpeas. It sounds like a lot of effort, but it makes a huge difference to the texture.

I use this recipe, adding a bit more lemon juice and garlic, and toasted ground cumin seed. You definitely need tahini, as pp have said. And cook the chickpeas

www.jamieoliver.com/news-and-features/features/best-basic-houmous-recipe/#xZJKxxWYHITapbfZ.97

Ottolenghi's recipe makes the best houmous

Guess I'll have to find tahini then. Had a look in Morrison's the other night and couldn't find any at all, even expensive stuff. Perhaps will have to order online.

Lots of lemon juice too! And I add smoked paprika to mine. Delicious! They sell tahini in Sainsburys if you can get to one of those?

Felicity Cloaked has a pretty comprehensive hummus guide:
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/aug/11/how-to-make-perfect-hummus

Does your Morrison’s have a world food aisle or a healthy eating aisle, cjferg? Last time I was in Morrison’s the tahini was in their shiny new healthy eating aisle.