Non-traditional Hummus (aka crazy chickpea mash)

 

I like chickpeas. They are a really good, healthy, satisfying food. They make vegetarian food filling, and absorb flavours in wonderful ways. Hummus is middle eastern cuisine – chickpeas mashed and pureed into a paste with lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, tahini (pulped sesame seeds, a bit like peanut butter). Often garnished with some herbs, or ground paprika or cumin, it is used as a dip.

However you can get a lot of different kinds of Hummus out there, in stores, or in recipe cookbooks. Various kinds of flavours embedded in it. Purists argue that this isn’t hummus, and you should call it something different, and they are right. But this post isn’t going to settle the argument, it will just pour olive oil on the flames.

I tend to use Hummus as a food stuff in its own right. Lumped in with salads if available or spread on bread, crackers, bagels etc. I tend to eat more, and I need it a bit more solid than is traditional. In order to get hummus to the paste like consistency that is normally called for, you have to use a lot of oil, and blend like crazy. Blend a lot longer than the motor in my hand blender can take.

Also Hummus soaks up the flavours of whatever you put in. Being adventurous can be very rewarding. When you decide to go crazy with the flavours, you need to decide what to do with the Tahini. Not everyone likes it - think of it like peanut butter that your kids probably wouldn’t like. I do, but the taste of it is subtle with the other ingredients. It can get swamped depending on what you put in. If you are watching the waistline its a big source of calories and fats. Ironically it is quite sticky and can make the hummus hard to blend (especially if it is cold) which will require you to put in more olive oil. Its a bit of a double edged sword that way.

So here are a couple of ideas that I have tried out and found successful:

Hummus with fresh herbs (Mint and Coriander)

This one is fairly straightforward. It is simply a standard Hummus recipe with at least 2 cups of finely chopped herbs thrown in. I use Mint and Coriander/Cilantro, but you can experiment. I would probably avoid any tough herbs like Rosemary or anything that is especially strong. Blend the herbs first to get them nice and fine. Blend the garlic with the herbs. Mix in a can of chickpeas (or a cans worth of dried & cooked chickpeas) along with generous amounts of lemon juice & olive oil. Be careful not to overdo it with the lemon juice as it can dominate the flavour. You can’t really overdo it with the olive oil. If you are calorie counting, apply the olive oil in batches, adding more as the mixture becomes difficult to blend. Put in about a tablespoon of Tahini if you are using it. I also put in about a teaspoon each of ground cumin, ground coriander and paprika. Blend as finely as you can. Ideally there should be no solid chickpeas left, and the mixture should have the consistency of toothpaste.

 

Hummus with Sundried Tomato Pesto

As above, except I cut down on the fresh herbs a lot (about 1 cup finely chopped). I keep in the spices (paprika, cumin & coriander). I add in about half of a small jar of Sundried Tomato Pesto (200-300g jar). Blend well and serve.

This is the tastiest hummus chickpea mash I have ever made. Never fails to attract a crowd. If you have a good blender, you can use pure sundried tomatoes for the same effect. You will probably need to judge the proportions better.

Hummus with Curry Paste (Tandoori)

This is the point where I get totally lynched. This is pure experiment. I had half a jar of Tandoori Curry Paste that I needed to use up. So into the blender it went. I used the ingredients in roughly the proportions of the Sundried Tomato recipe (without the pesto). I also added in a teaspoon of Garam Masala spice, and a teaspoon of mild chilli powder.

It was a worthwhile experiment and it had a nice flavour to it, but the curry paste had a lot of salt in it. Which unfortunately dominated the flavour more than I would like.

Experiment

Once you have the basic recipe to hand, accessorising the flavours becomes easy and fun. Hummus is great party food and its one to impress friends with. If you know any really interesting flavour combinations I would love to hear them.