An ode to hummus, and why you just can't make it at home

My western expat friends always show surprise when they realise I never make my own hummus, and instead choose to buy it from the corner Lebanese restaurant.

At first glance, hummus might seem like the easiest thing in the world to make: dump a can of chickpeas into a blender or food processor, with some lemon juice and tahini sauce and voila: instant deliciousness. Except, it's just not the same.

You'll never be able to get the texture right, nor the perfect balance of tart taste juxtaposed against creamy perfection, not unless you're willing to put in a lot of time and effort. Because perfect hummus is, in fact, an arduous thing to achieve.

Here's

from the blog

by Bethany Kehdy (whom

in

The National

) that best exemplifies just how complicated a process it is to produce a perfect batch of this most Middle Eastern of dishes. Try it, if you're feeling ambitious - there's no doubt the result will be satisfying.

For the less daring, it's so much easier to stop by your favourite Lebanese joint - I alternate between the Safadi restaurant on Electra Street (#7), the Automatic restaurant near Mariah Mall and the Lebanese Flower outlet just before Wahda Mall on Street # 11 - and get all the hummus you need. You can ask them to fill your favourite tupperware, you can order the hummus as a decorated plate to place as the dish of honour in the centre of your table, you can ask for extra chickpeas on the side to garnish the plate. The options are endless.

Do not, however, buy ready-made, packaged hummus from a grocery store shelf, or label the hummus sold in Spinney's as authentic Middle Eastern fare. It has too much garlic and is more akin to Greek hummus; it's just not right.

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Bethany Kehdy's "Hummus B'Tahini" recipe from the Dirty Kitchen Secrets blog:

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Hummus B' Tahini

For the hummus:

• 250g/9 oz dry chickpeas, soaked will make 500g (makes about a 300g tub)
• 1/4 tsp baking soda (optional)
• 150ml/scant 2/3 cups tahini
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1/2 tsp dry cumin, allspice, or 7-spices
• 2 lemons, more or less to taste
• Olive oil, for drizzling
• Salt to taste
• Paprika, Coriander, finely chopped, pita bread, to serve.

Begin by sorting thru the chickpeas and getting rid of any rotted chickpeas. Rinse them well under cold water. Put in a large bowl and fill with twice the amount of water. Be sure to use a big enough bowl as the chickpeas will expand. Let it sit overnight. Now, if your thinking: "What a waste of time and energy! I'll just get canned chickpeas and save time and energy!" Well, yes you could, but you'll just be wasting the TASTE! C'mon it's not that bad! You can sort thru the chickpeas while watching your favorite TV show... don't get too distracted though!

The next day, rinse the soaked chickpeas really well under running water, add the chickpeas to a deep pot (I recommend a pressure cooker which will drastically reduce the cooking time, follow manual instructions) and  fill the pot with water to cover the chickpeas. Now double the water. If you're not using a pressure cooker you may need to use baking soda to help soften the chickpeas and reduce cooking time, though I prefer not to as it lends a soapy taste. Place pot on medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 1.5 hours- 2 hours, depending on the age of the chickpeas. Remove any of the white foam with a slotted spoon. Chickpeas are ready when they smash between two fingers with the gentlest pressure applied. Drain chickpeas. If you're feeling so inclined, then I do recommend shocking the cooked chickpeas under cold running water, then cover them with cold water and swish them a few times with your hands. Discard the skins that have loosened. This helps in achieving a smoother, less grainy, velvety smooth hummus.

Throw the garlic cloves and a little bit of salt in the food processor and pulse a couple of times. Add the chickpeas (reserve a handful for garnish, if you'd like), pulse a few more times (maybe add a little water here to get the blades moving), then add tahini, lemon juice and spice of choice (allspice traditional to Lebanon) and process until a creamy consistency is reached. You may find that you need to add some more water to loosen the mixture, drizzle it in little by little, till you reach the texture you're after.

If you like your hummus more zesty, then feel free to add more at this point. I like to leave my hummus to rest for an hour or two,  and then taste. This allows all the flavors to sit and you can then better gauge if you will need more lemon to your taste. Hummus will tend to thicken overnight and you can loosen the mixture by adding water or more lemon, to taste. Hummus tastes the best when made fresh but that doesn't mean it doesn't taste good days after it's made. It's incredibly convenient and necessary to have hummus in your fridge throughout the week. Home-made hummus can keep up to 7 days, if it is not consumed before then.

To serve the hummus: Transfer to a shallow serving bowl and create a shallow well in the center of the hummus. Into the well, drizzle olive oil, sprinklings of paprika, reserved chickpeas, if using and finely chopped coriander. Serve with warm Arabic bread.