Hummus

Hummus or the Arabic version حمّص ‎hummus is the translation of chickpeas. It’s a staple of Arabic cooking served with flatbread at the beginning to a meal.

The full Arabic name of the prepared spread is حُمُّص بطحينة (hummus bi tahina) which means chickpeas with tahini. This indicates the other important ingredient – Tahini paste which is pulped sesame seed.

Serves 6

400g cooked and drained chickpeas – keep the cooking liquid from the can!

1 clove of garlic crushed

Juice only from 1 lemon

2 tablespoons tahini paste

2/3 tablespoons virgin olive oil

1 heaped teaspoon of ground Cumin

Sea salt & black pepper

Method

1. Blend the chickpeas in a food processor till crushed and fairly smooth.

2. Crush your garlic clove finely and add to the mixture.

3. Add the tahini paste & lemon juice & olive oil and blend further for 10-15 seconds.

4. Heat a small frying pan till warm. Add the cumin and gently toast for 20-30 seconds or until you can smell the spice. However beware not to burn the spice! Add this also to the mixture.

5. Now add the cooking liquid of the chick peas whilst blending until you have a thick paste.

6. If the mixture appears too thick, (it should be the consistency of thick porridge!) add a little more water.

7. Season with sea salt & ground black pepper.

8. Serve with the flatbread recipe as a dip, drizzle with olive oil before serving or this mixture can be kept in the fridge for at least a week in an air tight container.