Hummus: it's yummy for dipping veggies or chips, spreading onto sandwiches, mixing with salsa and sour cream, or even by the spoonful! I love hummus, but don't like paying the premium price at the store. Instead, (with the help of my food processor) I periodically make a big batch of hummus, and freeze it in 1-cup portions so we have plenty of hummus to last for a couple months.
My hummus recipe begins with soaking dried chickpeas in an acidic medium overnight. This important step reduces the phytic acid antinutrient that is naturally present in grains and legumes.
There are two options for making this hummus uber smooth: you can either squeeze the skin off of each individual chickpea after cooking, or you can do what I do and make the hummus while the chickpeas are still quite warm (not boiling hot, but still very warm). I've made hummus with both methods, and could only tell a very slight difference, so I generally use the second method.
Homemade Hummus
This recipe makes a BIG batch of hummus (~8-9 cups of hummus). You could easily halve this recipe if you want a smaller batch.
3 cups of dried chickpeas (which will make ~8 cups of cooked chickpeas)
filtered water
2 Tb raw apple cider vinegar or homemade whey
1 Tb celtic sea salt
6 cloves garlic
2/3 cup fresh lemon juice (from 3-4 large lemons)
11 ounce jar tahini (this is the one I've used)
1.5 tsp dried cumin
2&1/2 tsp celtic sea salt
1&1/2 cups reserved liquid from cooking the chickpeas
Soak the chickpeas in filtered water with 2 Tb apple cider vinegar or whey. Use plenty of water since the chickpeas will more than double in size. Allow to soak at room temperature for 12-24 hours.
Drain and rinse the chickpeas.
Put the chickpeas in a large pot. Cover with filtered water.
Bring to a boil and skim off any foam that rises to the top. Discard the foam. Then stir in 1 Tb salt.
Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer. Simmer for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally, until the chickpeas are fully cooked.
Reserve 2 cups of the cooking liquid.
Drain the chickpeas.
Put the chickpeas in a food processor. In my 7-cup food processor, this large recipe needs to be processed half at a time: put half of the cooked chickpeas into the food processor and combine with half of the garlic, lemon juice, tahini, cumin, olive oil, salt, and the reserved chickpea liquid. Pulse the hummus a few times to get it started, and then turn the processor on and let it run until the hummus is silky smooth. Don't be afraid to add a few extra minutes of processing time to let it get really smooth.
Scrape down the sides of the food processor as necessary to make sure everything gets incorporated well. Scoop the hummus into containers of your choice (I like to use freezer-safe glass storage containers with lids).
Repeat with the remaining half of the chickpeas and other ingredients.
Serve this hummus warm or cold. If desired, drizzle with a bit of olive oil and/or cumin before serving. This hummus freezes well with minimal texture change after thawing.
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