Hummus

Name: Hummus (Chick Peas)
Cuisine: Saudi Arabia
Ingredients: 50 ml (2 fl oz) olive oil; Salt and pepper, to taste; 250 g (8 oz) chick peas; Parsley to garnish; 50–90 ml (2–3 fl oz) fresh lemon juice; A good pinch of cayenne (optional); 2 teaspoons cumin; 2 large cloves garlic (crushed), or to taste

Chick Peas

Preparation info

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

A New Book of Middle Eastern Food

By Claudia Roden

Published 1986

About

One of the best ways to use chick peas, so common in the Arab world that they could be a symbol of it, is puréed as a cream salad. Because it is so often combined with tahina, many use the name hummus for that combination.

Ingredients

250 g (8 oz) chick peas
Salt and pepper, to taste
2

Asia
Saudi Arabia
Side dish
Vegan
Gluten-free

Method

Soak the chick peas for a few hours or overnight in cold water. Drain and simmer in fresh cold water until really soft, which usually takes more than an hour, adding salt towards the end of the cooking time. (A good pinch of bicarbonate of soda speeds up the softening but then you must throw away the cooking water, for it acquires a rather unpleasant taste.)

Cool