Roman’s Simple Hummus

I don’t know about you, but when I think garlic I primarily think Greek or Arabic food. So, the first simple thing that springs to mind is hummus:          

Gear

• 1 chopping board
• Sharp Knife
• Large Bowl
• Blender or hand blender

Simple Hummus

Ingredients

• Chickpeas/Garbanzo beans
• Tahina/Tahini – optional (not everyone has access to this. I recommend Arabic brands from an ethnic store they are much, much nicer. Pro tip: Lebanese and Saudi tahina is best IME)   
• Lemon juice – freshly squeezed if possible. You will end up with more of those micronutrients than a bottled juice can offer but that will do at a pinch.            
• Extra Virgin Olive oil – I personally recommend a Palestinian olive oil for reasons of flavour as well as helping probably the most impoverished olive oil producing nation.         
• Salt – Sea salt is generally a better choice than purified table salts as there are calcium and magnesium based salts in there rather than being almost exclusively sodium based.     
• Garlic – fresh
• Water        

Method

1. If you have dried Chickpeas (there’s probably bags of them still in shops) then soak for 24 hours prior to use then bring to the boil and simmer. A scum will form on the top of the liquid. Scoop this off and discard. Test your chickpeas occasionally. When they are tender, drain and leave them to cool.
2. If you have got tinned chickpeas you only need drain and rinse.
3. Stick your chickpeas in a processor or a bowl if you have a hand blender
4. Take your garlic – as much as you can take in your food (6 decent sized cloves to 1 tin of chickpeas will give a level or garlic that is almost spicy, would make many Arabs wince and the Greeks give you a thumbs up and a smile – and peel it.
5. This next part is important: take a wide bladed knife or similar implement, put it atop the garlic clove and confidently slam the heel of your hand into it. This crushes the clove and releases the active ingredients within very effectively. I tend to leave it in this state for 10 – 15 mins as I have read that the exposure to air with the mixing of these cellular compounds increases the garlics anti-viral capacity. I can’t find a citation for this, but one way or the other won’t do any harm. Stick that in your processor or bowl too.
6. Add your lemon juice, olive oil, salt and Tahina in increments, blitzing between each addition until you reach the desired flavour. I personally favour the Greek; very lemony and garlicky flavour, but my household prefers the more nutty Tahina-heavy Arabic style hummus.
7. Then add a small amount of water bit by bit until you reach the desired consistency.
8. If you do not have a blender, the chickpeas can be mashed by hand with a masher (I used a wine bottle once) and the garlic hand minced with a knife before adding.                

You now have hummous that will beat the utter crap out of anything you’re gonna buy in a store. It’s a tasty medicine, it’s vegan and if your kids won’t leave you alone all day with cries of “I’m hungry” leave out a bowl of this with some crudités and tell them to eat it or stop complaining 🙂

Variations

Sprinkle the top with smoked paprika and drizzle with more olive oil.

Swap about 1/3 (you judge as you make) of the olive oil and substitute with toasted sesame oil, sprinkle toasted sesames on top and drizzle with more toasted sesame oil for a hummus variant that had me shouting angrily at my friend who ad-libbed this in the moment and I was jealous cos I didn’t have the nous to think of it for myself.