My wife and I can easily go through two or three tubs of hummus in a week, and at $3-4 apiece it’s a bit of money.  So, for the sake of curiosity, I decided to do the whole thing from scratch.

I decided to use dried chickpeas because I’m trying to improve my ability to use dried beans and pulses.  Why?  Because canned beans cost about twice as much (or more if you can grow your beans or buy bulk).  I also want to develop my old-fashioned skills a bit more.  I did cheat with chopped garlic; but, I’m pretty proficient with whole garlic.  Chopping garlic isn’t a skill set I need to develop any further.

I also chose to use lime juice in my hummus recipe instead of lemon because I like limes better.  That said, apparently the Mexican drug cartels are hoarding limes or something (causing a price spike), so feel free to go back to lemons.  I also used peanut butter and toasted sesame oil because tahini is really expensive and those two aren’t.

Homemade Hummus Recipe

Hardware:

• Food Processor w/ Chopping Blade
• Spatula
• Big Pot
• Colander (big strainer)
• Storage Vessels (old hummus tubs?)

• 1 lb. of dried Chickpeas (Garbanzo Beans)
• 3-4 tbsp. chopped Garlic (to taste) [3-8 cloves]
• 2 tbsp. Peanut Butter or Tahini (smooth is better)
• 1 tbsp. Toasted Sesame Oil
• 2-4 tbsp. Olive Oil
• 2-6 tbsp. Lime Juice (to taste)
• 1/2 tsp. Salt (I used smoked)
• 1/2 tsp. ground Black Pepper
• 1/2 tsp. ground Cumin
• 1/2 tsp. ground Paprika

Preparation

Sort chickpeas and soak overnight in enough water to cover.  Discard soaking liquid using strainer.  Cover chickpeas in water and bring to a boil.  Be sure to boil for at least 10 minutes (all beans) to reduce legume toxins.  I don’t think chickpeas have a lot of these, but it’s good to be safe.  After boiling, simmer until soft.  Drain, and cool in fresh water.

If you’d rather use canned chickpeas, use twice as much (about two pounds) of cooked and canned beans in the hummus recipe.

Work your fingers in amongst the chickpeas after they cool to loosen any skins that are easily removed.  It’s not worth the time to get them all out, but removing the easy ones will improve your texture.

Put the Peanut Butter, Toasted Sesame Oil, and 1 tbsp. of the Olive Oil into the food processor.  Blend until smooth.  Add everything except the reserved Olive Oil and blend until fairly smooth.  Slowly add Olive Oil while blending until the desired texture is achieved.  You don’t want an oil slick, so err on the side of less oil.  You can always add more, but it’s a pain to get it out again.

Serve with pitas, pretzels, crudite, or what-have-you.