Best homemade Hummus recipe - so smooth and flavorful

HUMMUS

I was wondering how those people were enjoying with that white paste  with khabs an Arabic bread. I had never tasted that thing before, what I knew about it was its name , they called it HUMMUS. Especially Arab guys loved it as well as non Arab also. I had no idea until I tasted it myself for the first time. Even after tasting it myself I had no idea about it. It was too much sour.  How could you eat such thing that is too sour. The texture was fine but the taste was horrible. When I tasted it several times then I realized that like other Arabic food hummus also has many variations. Some people make too much sour and some don't. When I knew that hummus is creamy, smoothy and flavorful dip, I started to love it. I enjoyed hummus with pita bread many times with my friends and collegue. They loved it more long before even I tasted it. They loved to eat khabus, fatoush, hummus and avocado juice literally it was avocado milk shake. Some liked tabouleh, muttabel and muhammara. When I was supposed to prepare hummus for the patron I had no idea how to make it.
 I just knew something about it was just boiling chickpeas for hours. More than this I knew nothing about it. So it was little difficult for me to make hummus myself. Just then I knew the whole process of preparation of hummus. It took me some weeks to know complete process and techniques behind the humus. A few  months later I was on a mission to improve my hummus game. I had a basic hummus recipe that I’ve made and enjoyed for months. I wanted to improve it make it more creamy, more smoothy and more flavorful. I tried various techniques and came to a point with conclusion it would help to make perfect hummus without any mistakes.
One most most important thing in the culinary field is only great ingredients can make great food. More tahini, more lemon juice, more salt or any other ingredients can't make your hummus game great. The selection of ingredients play vital role in the preparation of hummus. The chickpeas is major ingredient of hummus so if your chick peas is of low quality you can't make great hummus. So you must keep mind that what quality is your chickpeas. You need to wash the chickpeas properly then soak in water.
When you soak chickpeas you need to add baking soda in water. Soak more time if chickpeas not soaked properly. Boiling the chickpeas also plays important role. The chickpeas should be boiled very well so we can mash it very well. Then the quality of tahini also plays important role in making the hummus creamy, smoothy and flavorful. So make the perfect selection of tahini. Use the best brand tahini available in the market.

WHAT IS HUMMUS?

If you are new with the term hummus then you will be wondering like me before. It's classic dish from the Middle Eastern and Mediterranean Cuisines  prepared primarily from chickpeas aka garbanzo beans, tahini (ground sesame paste), lemon juice and salt. Various countries add in their own ingredients like garlic, ground cumin, chopped parsley, chopped pickles etc. It is said that hummus was invented in Ancient Egypt. Nowadays you can buy a million variations in any American grocery store or online store.

HOMEMADE HUMMUS INGREDIENTS:

You will need following ingredients to make hummus in your home. And enjoy with Arabic bread and make wrap as well.

Chickpeas: I recommend perfect chickpeas for hummus. Choose bigger in size and soak well before boiling. Or replace it with ready to use can hummus.

Tahini: Only perfect quality of tahini can make the hummus great so purchase good quality  tahini in tin if possible.

Garlic: Since there is no garlic in basic recipe of Hummus. You can add garlic cloves if you love garlic flavor.

Lemon juice: Fresh lemon juice is the most in hummus. Not only
in hummus most of the Lebanese dish require lemon juice. Here some prefer more lemon. But I suggest to use as per your taste.

Ground cumin: Like garlic there is no need to add ground cumin in hummus. If you love cumin flavor you can add it.

Olive oil: Add some olive oil in hummus while preparation then drizzle extra on top for serving with sumac, meat and pine nuts as per your choice.

Salt: Add salt as per taste. You can use both table salt and fine sea salt.

Cold water: Ice cubes or cold water is another game - changing ingredient. Keep in mind that the temperature of hummus while preparation should not exceed the serving temperature. If your hummus is too thick and smoothing out add more ice water. If you made perfect hummus in higher temperature. It will thicken later 'cause hummus is served cold.

HOW TO MAKE HUMMUS:

To make this hummus I suggest not to use can chickpeas and the recipe is restaurant style. So you can follow this recipe if you are familiar with restaurant style or a bit of talent home cook.
First wash and rinse chickpeas and soak in water. Add baking soda in water and mix well. Leave it for overnight or 24 hours for soaking. Before boiling check if the chickpeas are soaked well and soft. Again wash and rinse the chickpeas then add some soda in chickpeas and mix well. Add water in chickpeas and place over heat for boiling. Use bigger pot for boiling. Cook the chickpeas little overcooked so that we can make smooth pure easily in food processor. Drain the chickpeas after cooking well. You can cool it adding ice cubes and warm water and drain it. Now add chickpeas in food processor and add all the ingredients and puree until smooth. Keep in mind that the temperature of hummus inside should not exceed serving temperature. You can feel it outside the food processor. So you need to pause once or twice to maintain temperature and scrape the sides down. You can add cold water if hummus seems to be too thick. Now time for final taste, give the hummus a taste and add salt and lemon juice if needed. Now transfer the hummus in a container and keep chilled. You can directly transfer it to a serving bowl and add topping you like meat, pine nuts ,sumac or paprika and olive oil and enjoy with khabus. Also you can add extra lemon juice, cumin powder, chopped parsley and pickles and enjoy. Variations may include hummus with meat, hummus with pine nuts, Hummus Beiruti or Lebanese Hummus.

Hummus Recipe
HUMMUS
Prep. Time: 10 MINUTES   Yield: 10-12 SERVINGS
DESCRIPTION
This homemade hummus recipe is quick, easy and simple to make, super-smoothy and creamy, and tastes so fresh, delicious,flavorful and healthy as well!

 INGREDIENTS
1 cup good - quality tahini
1/2 cup of cold water or ice cubes, (more if needed)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
1.5 teaspoon salt
4 medium cloves garlic, peeled and smashed (optional)
1/4 cup of lemon juice or 1/2 tablespoon of lemon salt for long time preservation
1 kg of chickpeas, rinsed, boiled well and drained
For toppings: extra drizzle of olive oil, chopped fresh parsley, chopped pickles, sprinkle of ground sumac or paprika, toasted pine nuts and cooked meat

INSTRUCTIONS
Add ice cubes or cold water, chickpeas, olive oil, salt and lemon juice to a food processor.  Puree until smooth.

Add in tahini slowly and puree for 3-4 minutes, pausing halfway to scrape down the sides and to maintain temperature. As mentioned before if hummus temperature exceeds the serving temperature it will be too much thick when cooled. Puree until the hummus is smooth, creamy and flavorful. If the hummus is thick add some cold water as required to be perfect. Now taste and season with additional salt or lemon juice if needed.

Serve it immediately, garnished with your desired toppings.  Or transfer to a container seal it and refrigerate for up to 3 to 4 days.