Zahav's Silky Smooth Israeli Hummus
Zahav's classic recipe for Israeli hummus bi tahini is the best homemade hummus you can make! It's silky, smooth, creamy, light, and addictively yummy.
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried chickpeas
- 1 tsp baking soda,
- 1 heaping tbsp kosher salt, for salting the water
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1/3 cup lemon juice, about 1 1/2 lemons
- 1/3-2/3 cup tahini
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
- extra virgin olive oil, parsley, chopped kalamata olives, for garnish
Instructions
- Cook the chickpeas according to your preferred method as detailed in the notes.
- In a food processor, puree the garlic and lemon juice. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes, to mellow the garlic. Strain the liquid and discard the solids. Add the liquid back to the processor and spoon in the tahini. Start up the processor and add the reserved chickpea water, one tablespoon at time until the tahini is light colored and smooth.
- Add the chickpeas and the cumin to the processor and process for 4 minutes, adding more chickpea water if the hummus seems too thick. The hummus should be very smooth, light, and soft. Taste the hummus and add salt if needed.
- Scoop the hummus into a serving bowl and top with a drizzle of olive oil, chopped fresh parsley, and some chopped kalamata olives.
Notes
- Inspiration: This recipe is adapted (with a few changes) from Marc Solomonov, and is from his cookbook Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking
- Garnish ideas: Other thoughts for garnishes include, paprika or smoked paprika, toasted pine nuts, or whole chickpeas (either simply cooked or crisped up in oil).
- Cooking time: I have cooked the chickpeas in a few different ways to come up with my favorite method. Since I tend to forget to presoak, I like to simply cook them in the oven from dry, but I thought I would give you all the methods. Each method uses 1 heaping tablespoon of kosher salt in the water and 1 teaspoon of baking soda.
- Unsoaked chickpeas oven method: Cover the chickpeas with about 4 inches of salted water + 1 tsp of baking soda. Bring to a boil, then cover and into the oven at 350F for 2 hours. (This is my favorite since it requires no extra appliances and you can check the doneness as it cooks.)
- Unsoaked chickpeas Instant Pot: Cover the chickpeas with 4 inches of salted water + 1 tsp of baking soda. Set the IP to high pressure, no keep warm, 35 minutes, and use natural release. Do not hit quick release! The chickpeas are soft and will make a mess. To come to pressure, cook, and then fully release takes about 1 hr 45 minutes.
- Soaked chickpeas oven method: Prefer to soak? Soak the chickpeas in 2 inches of salted water + 1 tsp of baking soda for 8-12 hours. Then, drain the chickpeas and cover them again with about 2 inches of salted water + 1 tsp of baking soda. Bring to a boil, then cover and into the oven at 350F for 20-25 minutes. (This is quick cooking, but you do need to think of it the night before!)
- Soaked chickpeas Instant Pot: For the instant pot, cover the beans with 2 inches of salted water + 1 tsp of baking soda and turn on the IP to low pressure, no keep warm, 0 minutes, and use natural release. (So that it comes to pressure and shuts off.) Do not hit quick release! The chickpeas are soft and will make a mess. To come to pressure and then fully release takes about 1 hr 15 minutes.
- Canned Chickpeas: Not much for using dried? Then take two cans of chickpeas, drain them, and add them to a pot with 2 inches of water and 1 tsp of baking soda. Bring to a boil and then cook, covered, in the oven for 15-20 minutes.
- Texture: No matter the cooking method, your chickpeas should be soft and falling apart, but not complete mush.
- Salting the Water: Salting does not harm the chickpeas or make them tough or increase the cooking time. What is does do is flavor the chickpeas.
- Doubling the Recipe: You can double the chickpeas while using the same amount of water, salt, and baking soda as in the original recipe. (This is for the oven method - I have not tried it with the Instant Pot.)