I know I am really out of food when all I have in my pantry are chickpeas. They take so long to soak they always end up being one of the last things to go, but still are a favorite food of mine. Using these little beige nuggets of goodness for a homemade hummus ensures your fridge always has a little something for you to nibble on.
This recipe is another that requires some trading of time. Spend an hour or so in the kitchen one night and save many more though out the week with ready made, thick hummus. You will also save some money in the process.
This basic recipe only needs three ingredients.
The must haves:
Chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans) These are some bold little legumes.
Olive Oil I doubt I will ever post a recipe that doesn’t use olive oil so you better get a big bottle now.
Salt Himalayan is the best.
The highly recommended:
Fennel Seeds The plant that these aromatic dried seeds comes from originally grew in the Mediterranean, thus making it a staple flavor in food cultures from the Middle Eastern to Italian cooking.
Sesame Seeds Technically speaking, for hummus you are supposed to add ground sesame paste called sesame tahini. It is easier to make than the hummus itself since all you need to do is process the seeds until it forms a paste. However, that requires a key tool myself, and most college kitchens probably are missing, the food processor. To keep that wonderful eastern flavor of sesame in the hummus I like to add a few raw seeds to the mix.
Cayenne Everything needs spice.
Turmeric My hands are constantly jaundice colored from always using this magic powder, and yours should be too.
Sriracha This chili based sauce adds a nice kick and sends the flavor base eastward
To make:
The only tricky part of this dish is the soak. This only applies to chickpeas bought dry, if you have them in a can, skip this step. Rinse the dry chickpeas and put them in a pot with about six cups of water for every two cups of chickpeas, bring to boil and then turn off the heat. Let them sit for at least eight hours until you can easily breadth them with a poke. Dump the soaking water and refill with a fresh six cups of Colorado’s finest tap water.
Bring the pot to a boil and let simmer until the chick pea aroma fills the kitchen. Test one to make sure they are nice and soft.
In a large skillet (preferably cast iron) toast the sesame and fennel seeds on high heat then add olive oil, heaps of turmeric, cayenne, a squirt of sriracha and any other spice you have and care to add to the blend. Stir the spice blend to make an oily blend that is packed with flavor.
Next, drain the chickpeas from water and dump into the skillet. Slowly turn over the contests to coat the legumes in the delicious spice concoction. Taste and add more spice if needed.
If using a caste iron or other type of oven-safe pan, I like to throw the mix in the oven for a few minuets to really cook the flavors in.
Keep turning the chickpeas over to coat them in flavor. When they are nice and yellow from the turmeric give it one last taste and adjust as needed.
Using the widest utensil you have, start to crush the chick peas. Keep turning them over to get the flavors infused inside of the now broken up legumes. Once all the contests are crushed, it will be a powdery paste of sorts.
Finally, dump all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl and add generous amounts of olive oil and mix with a wide spoon. I like to use my rice cooking paddle.Keep mixing and adding oil until it is a desired paste-like substance. I prefer to keep my recipe more thick than traditional hummus to conserve olive oil. It is also easier to make this version last, as opposed to traditional hummus, which I always find myself digging into!
Contact CU Independent Grapevine Contributor Jackson Barnett at Jackson.Barnett@colorado.edu
