Hummus from dried chickpeas

I am in the camp of canned beans. We all have too much in our hands to cook from dried beans. Good quality canned beans are not difficult to come by but some are not purse friendly. Also, I have a confession to make, that I have been scarred ever since stubborn chickpeas refused to get soft after two hours of cooking which happened long time ago. Imagine all these soaking, waiting, changing water and in the end, the little buggers still resolutely resist. Arrggh.

That was until today. Yotam Ottolenghi rarely lets me down and he wows me again this time. Following his method, this is the creamiest chickpeas I've ever cooked and the dreamiest hummus I've ever tasted. To go along the theme of bean economy, I cook 500 grams of dried chickpeas in one go which equates to one pack sold here, and use half for hummus and save half for later. You could halve the recipe but it's worth cooking more than you need. You will love these chickpeas from scratch.

Hummus from dried chickpeas
adapted from Hummus with ful by Yotam Ottolenghi

To cook chickpeas:

- 500 g dried chickpeas (about 2 1/2 cups)
- 1 tsp + 1/2 tsp baking soda
- Water enough to submerge all soaked chickpeas
- 1 onion, quartered
- 2 bay leaves

To make hummus:

- 2 1/2 cups of cooked chickpeas
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 5 tablespoons of tahini
- Pinch of cumin powder
- Juice from one lemon (more or less to taste)
- Sea salt
- 1/2 cup of chickpea cooking liquid

Soak dried chickpeas with twice volumes of cold water. Stir in one teaspoon of baking soda. Leave the bowl covered overnight (or at least 8 hours) on the kitchen table. I understand my baking soda amount is significantly less than what the original recipe specifies but this amount works for me. Feel free to use more if needed.

Drain and wash the chickpeas. In a big pot, put in drained chickpeas, cold water, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda, onion chunks and 2 bay leaves. Bring the pot to boil, cover, and cook at low heat for 40 minutes. Chickpea quality varies, so you may need to adjust the cooking time to achieve soft and creamy texture.

When you can crush the chickpeas between fingers without any effort, it's done. Turn the heat off and drain the cooked chickpeas. Pick out the onion chunks and bay leaves. I like to rinse my cooked chickpeas with freshly boiled water to remove any baking soda no matter how faint it tastes. To make hummus, reserve 1/2 cup of liquid from rinsing the chickpeas.

To make hummus, blend together 2 1/2 cups of cooked chickpeas, 2 garlic cloves, tahini, lemon juice, cumin powder and a few grinds of sea salt. Slowly add in chickpea cooking liquid to adjust its consistency. Taste the hummus and adjust seasoning. I find the hummus tastes exceptionally when it's just made and slightly warm. If you are not eating the hummus straightaway, 30 seconds in microwave should bring back the light and creamy texture if it's fridge cold.