I love hummus! Would you believe that when I was younger I only ever ate the shop-bought variety? It seemed far too exotic, when I was first living on my own, to make such a thing, but then I discovered that it only takes 5 minutes to prepare from start to finish. It takes much longer using dried chickpeas, which I have tried and given up on. That involves far too much forward thinking with all the soaking, boiling etc. and it probably ends up being just as expensive to buy a tin of chickpeas, to be honest.
I am not a big fan of tahini. I find that most jars I’ve ever purchased have ended up being chucked out, three quarters full, because I’d only use it in hummus. I don’t make hummus often enough to warrant buying tahini (and I don’t care for the flavour), so I adapted this recipe of my own. I use a hand blender to get the right consistency as I find food processors leave the chickpeas a little too chunky for my liking; I prefer a nice, smooth hummus.
If I am making hummus for myself I use two large fat juicy cloves of garlic (I can never get enough garlic, me!) but if I’m making it for the children to eat I only use one small one, as raw garlic can be a bit overpowering for their taste buds. I’m also a big fan of cumin, so I might add a little bit more than the recipe calls for if I’m making this for myself. To give an extra boost of flavour you could always toast a teaspoonful of whole cumin seeds in a dry pan over a medium heat until they start to jump. Grind them to a powder in a mortar and pestle and away you go.
This hummus recipe goes superbly with homemade khobez, an Arabic flat bread and vegetable crudites for a quick, child-friendly, lunch. A good grinding of Shetland Seaweed over the top adds vital trace minerals to my family’s diet.
- 1 x 400 gram tin chickpeas
- 4 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 60 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 1-2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- freshly ground black pepper
- Shetland Seaweed Sprinkle
- fresh parsley, to garnish
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: Serves 2-3
A Story of Porridge, a Scottish Castle and a Ghost
That sounds delicious. Do you know how long it would keep in the fridge, as it would only be me eating it? Vohn x
I’ve kept it in the fridge for there or four days as sometimes I’m the only one eating it too.
Ha ha! That’s virtually the same recipe I used to use for my tahini-free Hummus when I lived in France, always adding a little ground cumin and cayenne pepper for extra flavour! Personally I love tahini in it too, but was hard to come by in rural France. The amount of hummus we get through I don’t think I’ve ever had to throw away tahini! My kids LOVE it, always a bit of staple round here.
How odd! Great minds think alike? 🙂 I have no idea where I adapted this recipe from as I’ve been making it like this for years. Such a great dish 🙂
This version looks very good. I am not particuarly enamoured with Tahini, especially in Hummus , and the Cumin seems like a nice addition.
Thank you Bonnie 🙂 Cumin makes everything better, I think! 😀