The first time I made Houmous was in 2006 with my friend Sophie. I had inferred from her confidence that she had made it before, but she later admitted that it was her first time making it and that she thought I knew what I was doing. Blind leading the blind, I’m amazed it tasted so good!
I tried telling my dad what we had made and he inevitably turned it into a euphemism. *Sigh*
Houmous is really very easy to make though, and for the price of a few supermarket tubs of the stuff you could make two or three times that amount.
It’s base ingredients are Garlic, a sesame paste called Tahini, and Chickpeas. From these you can add a variety of spices, herbs, and ingredients to create new flavours. I like it hot and smokey so in my latest batch I used a smoked garlic and sweet paprika flakes in the mix.
500g of Chickpeas
250g of Tahini
1 bulb of smoked garlic
1 lemon, squeezed
A dash of Olive Oil
And a generous sprinkling of sweet paprika flakes
Some Celery for dipping
If you have the time and you want to save some money buy dry Chickpeas and soak them in double their volume of water over night. The next day, drain the water, place them in a sauce pan with double their volume of water again and bring to the boil before simmering for 25-30 minutes until soft. Or just crack open and drain two cans of Chickpeas and boil them for 5-10 minutes.
Separate the Garlic cloves and lightly flatten them under the large flat side of a knife to loosen the skin. Remove the skin and using a garlic crusher, you show that Garlic who’s boss.
Drain the hot Chickpea water and retain it in another saucepan or sturdy bowl. You’ll need it later. Spoon the Chickpeas and Garlic into a food processor, keep aside a few Chickpeas for decoration, and blitz it. Next add the Tahini a spoon full at a time (so; spoon, blitz, spoon, blitz, etc). If the mixture looks dry add some of the Chickpea water a spoonful at a time. You want to to have a thick consistency, like smooth porridge.
Next squeeze the Lemon Juice in and a dash of Olive Oil, mix again and spoon into a serving bowl or storage container. I made loads from this mix so I did both and still had some left over for my house mate and I.
Finally Sprinkle some Sweet Paprika Flakes over the top and you’re done.
