Home Made Houmous or Hummus
How To Make this Vegetarian Dip From Chickpeas and Tahini Paste
Houmous is a delicious vegetarian spread based on chickpeas. It can be expensive to buy ready made, but is easy and cheap to make yourself with this easy recipe.
Houmous, also known as humus or humous, is a delicious vegetarian chickpea and tahini sesame spread that is great served on toast or with pieces of raw vegetable as a dip. It is easy to make houmous at home, and it is more economical to make it yourself, particularly in large quantities, for friends and family than to buy store bought houmous. Vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike will appreciate this richly flavored Greek specialty, which is healthy and appeals to children too!
Ingredients
- One 450g (16oz) can of chickpeas or 225g (8 oz) dried chickpeas
- 1 clove of garlic
- ½ a small onion
- the juice of half a lemon
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil
- 1 tablespoon tahini. This delicious sesame spread is found in gourmet stores, or why not use home made tahini to further reduce the cost of this recipe.
Method
- If using canned chickpeas drain the contents and rinse the chickpeas in cold water and drain well.
- If using dried chickpeas soak in cold water for at least 6 hours and then boil rapidly for ten minutes then simmer gently for one to two hours, until tender. If you use dried chickpeas it may be worth making a larger quantity of houmous to justify this long cooking time. Drain and leave to cool.
- Chop the onion finely, and crush or finely chop the garlic. Mix all the ingredients in a food processor and blend to a smooth paste. If the mix is very dry add a little water and process to blend.
Variations on the basic recipe
To add a spicier flavor to your houmous, why not try adding half a teaspoon each of ground cumin and ground chilli powder to the ingredients when you add them to the blender?
Another tasty variation is to add some red pepper that has been roasted in olive oil and chopped finely to the mix, optionally with the cumin and chilli powder as well if you wish.
How to serve houmous
Serve the houmous in small bowls, which you may like to decorate with green or black olives and sprinkle with paprika to compliment the Mediterranean flavor of the dish. Houmous is great served with sticks of raw vegetables, with tortilla chips or with freshly toasted thinly sliced brown bread for a great appetizer or snack with unexpected visitors.
Houmous is delicious served with salad, and the fried chickpea dish falafel, in toasted flat pitta breads. Houmous and falafel served this way is a satisfying vegetarian fast food that you can eat on the go.
Home made houmous is just one idea on how to save money on food while eating well.
