When my Dad
moved from Jerusalem to Essex in the 80's, it was a bit of a food waste land to
put it politely. Olive oil from a supermarket? Impossible. It could only
be purchased from a pharmacy in a small bottle, a depressingly lighter shade of
gold. He brought back his groceries from Jerusalem in a suitcase, the risk and
realisation of tahini covered clothes being deemed worth it. It only happened
once and I can confirm it doesn't come out.
On a weekend morning in Jerusalem, you
go to your favourite place and grab a takeaway tub of creamy oil drenched
hummus along with a paper bag of freshly fried falafel, pickles and ka3ek (a
light sesame seed baguette style bread). Not to digress you must try the ka3ek
in Jerusalem if you go there, its texture, lightness and flavour are
unique and seemingly impossible to emulate (rumour has it, it's the Jerusalem
water). The water isn't particularly nice though so that's a strange claim.
To recreate this for us at home,
using his self imported groceries, my dad would make us hummus
on the weekends for breakfast. The strange and very distinctive smell of
boiling chickpeas indicating the greatness that was to come.
The UK is now a wonderful place to eat and I
will defend our growing and diverse food culture to the end from all the
naysayers. I am not so proud of the supermarket hummus though, which had caught
on by the noughties. I have made peace with the fact that those cold soulless
tubs are a dip more in the vein of salsa for Doritos. There are places that do
better hummus in London but the price of it goes against its true spirit as a
cheap every person’s food. I like to think of it as the porridge of
Palestine, therefore it is best made at home if you aren't there.
Ingredients
500g of dried chick peas soaked in water
overnight
1 cup of chickpea liquor
1 clove of finely chopped garlic (if
eating it the same day)
1 small pinch of bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp of toasted and ground cumin seeds
1/2 tsp of ground coriander
A pinch of paprika
1 very large handful of parsley finely
chopped.
1 handful of pine nuts
3 lemons juiced
7 tablespoons of tahini
2 heaped tsp salt
A good quality olive oil
Soak your chickpeas overnight in water. Make
sure the water is kept topped up as it will be absorbed. The next day, drain
them and rinse under cold water. Put a high sided pan on medium heat
and add the chickpeas to the pan tossing them around for a
few minutes. Cover the chickpeas with cold water and add a pinch of the
bicarbonate of soda and stir a few times. I am not sure whether the
bicarbonate is necessary (I didn't use it last time, they didn't take longer to
cook and the result was still smooth and creamy). But it is traditionally used,
so if you have it why not.
Wait for the water to come to
the boil and when it does turn it down to a simmer. Over the course of the
next few hours skim the white scum off the water regularly and top up the pan
with more water if required.
Meanwhile you can prepare your pine
nuts. Pour a thumb height of olive oil into a frying pan and fry the
pine nuts gently until they are golden. Drain the oil away and place the pines
on paper towels to soak up the remaining oil. Watch them whilst they are
cooking as they catch and burn very easily.
Once the chickpeas are cooked (which is when
they are soft without being mushy) and should be after 2 - 2 1/2 hours
cooking, drain reserving a cup of chickpea water. Set aside a large handful of
whole chickpeas to decorate your plate with.
Put the chickpeas in a blender and start to
blend the chickpeas slowly adding about a third of the cup of chickpea water.
Add the garlic if using along with the cumin, coriander and a tsp of salt. Then
add 3 tablespoons of tahini and half the lemon juice. Continue to add the
remaining lemon and tahini cautiously. I like my hummus to be lemony, creamy
and smooth but not to the point of it being over processed. It should be able
to 'stand' on the plate so be careful it doesn't become too runny. If it is too
thick but you think the tahini and lemon taste is right then carefully add a
small amount of chickpea water. You probably won't need the whole cup. Finally
add a generous glug of olive oil for the final blend, a heaped tsp of
the chopped parsley and more salt if you need / to your taste. I
normally add another large tsp at this point.
Use the whole chickpeas, parsley, pines,
paprika and olive oil to decorate your hummus and serve it with lots of warm pitta or Turkish bread, fried or boiled eggs,
pickles and sage or mint tea. If you don't have pines, chopped and chopped and toasted
walnuts or pomegranate rills are great as well.
Tips;
Always use dried chickpeas. Boil a few kilos
and then freeze them in 500g portions (a Dad tip). They freeze well, your
hummus will have a better consistency and it is cheaper than canned. Use a good
quality tahini (Lebanese, green lid, beige container, al Nakhil or California
garden). Never ever eat it fridge cold, either warm or room temperature. Save
the chick pea water for the blitzing stage. Always add the lemon, tahini and
chickpea water slowly, allow pulsing time and then taste test it. It is much
harder to come back from overly sloppy hummus. You will also see a range of
flavour possibilities and preferences by doing this.
For meat lovers, chopped lamb fillet or beef
mince fried with cinnamon, all spice, pepper and sumac, mixed with pomegranate
and parsley and heaped into the middle are also great, although maybe a little
too hearty for breakfast.
