Delicious Homemade Hummus

I remember a good couple of decades back when I first tried to eat hummus. I couldn't! I'm not quite sure how, what and who made me try it again. I tried and I'm soo glad I did as I can eat buckets of it now. It is healthy and so delicious. Great for snacking on.

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❓What is hummus?

Hummus is a dip, a spread, or a savoury dish made from cooked chickpeas that get blended with tahini, lemon juice, and garlic. It is a popular dish in the Middle East and in Middle Eastern cuisine around the globe but also found in some Mediterranean countries.

Houmous is originally a Mediterranean dip which is written in a few ways, houmous, hummus, humous or humus. What a gorgeous dip to have with some nice homemade flatbread or with crudities or eat in pita bread with beautifully homemade falafel. Whichever way you choose to have it it's absolutely gorgeous and very good for you -good and rich in proteins.

You could have a skinny version of it by replacing the olive oil with a low-fat yoghurt like a Greek-style one which is still creamy and the one that I'm thinking of right now it's Total yoghurt the 2% fat. Perfect!

I do season it well and jazz it up sometimes with various other ingredients such as smoked Paprika, roast peppers, Fennel (fresh or roasted), or roasted parsnip, sweet potato or butternut squash. Just a tiny bit added to the blender when pulsing the chickpeas. Incredibly tasty... what can I say? Get courageous and add your favourite flavours. It's not pretentious at all.

My advice is to make as much as you know you will be consuming within two-three days as it is not suitable for freezing and there's nothing like freshly homemade hummus.

It is super quick and easy to prepare as you will see shortly. You can make it really smooth or you can leave it with more texture but this is totally up to how you'd like it.

In this particular recipe I've used canned chickpeas but most of the time I cook dry ones and when I boil them I just add an onion, a carrot or some leek, it all depends on my day and my mood but bottom line is that my houmous never ever comes out exactly the same as there are always exciting ingredients and flavours to try. I also have used caramelized onion, roast or fresh garlic or garlic infused mushrooms. You can throw in a blender whatever your fantasy dictates you at the time.

Most of the time I'm using roast peppers but I have used fresh peppers too, so if you don't mind the little bits of skin, go for it- try fresh peppers. I just love it! The only thing I would say is that when preparing it with fresh peppers, it has to be consumed pretty much in a day or two max as it will ferment and go all fizzy fairly quickly.

The Secret For Making The Best Hummus

Is there one? well, there isn't much secret, it is darn simple to make hummus really. The only mystery to making a fabulous hummus is the order in which ingredients are added into the food processor and letting each ingredient get whizzed for a good minute before adding another. 

Here is the order:

• Tahini and lemon juice go in first - turn on the food processor and whizz for about a minute until it turns into the paste that's lighter in colour and much thicker.
• Then, you can add ingredients as you wish, making sure you stand back and let the food processor run for at least 1 minute after adding each ingredient.

It is as simple as this! And here it is how we make this creamy, rich and so delicious hummus at home so that you will never have to buy it again.

You only need a handful of ingredients.

Let's get blending then, shall we? 

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