Tinkering, episode II: Hummus 2.0

Dylan recently sent me an article by J.M. Hirsch, who went "In Pursuit of Perfect Hummus" in Israel. The article appeared last year in Christoper Kimball's Milk Street Magazine (which is a perfectly pretentious name for Chris Kimball's post-Cook's Illustrated endeavors) and won a 2018 Beard journalism award in the "Dining and Travel" category. The lede certainly gets your attention if you consider yourself a hummus fan: "We make it wrong. We serve it wrong. We eat it wrong." Hirsch explains that hummus is served for breakfast in Israel, where people line up outside of shops to bring tubfuls of hummus home to be eaten warm. As for making the hummus, Hirsch covers various important elements: always use small, dried chickpeas versus canned; the chickpeas should be processed while warm; use a toasted, well-stirred, thin (pourable) tahini; and no garlic. The last element is interesting, as my first recipe used only one clove of garlic, while other recipes of note, including Ottolenghi and Zahav both use four cloves of garlic (albeit for double the recipe but still way too much for me).

Intrigued, I headed into the kitchen to start tinkering. Hirsch insists on using dried chickpeas, and I have no doubt the end result is superior, as I've learned from making Chickpea Curry with dried chickpeas versus canned. But I'm trying to come up with an improved recipe that you'll actually make for an easy appetizer or dinner, so I wasn't interested in the overnight soak and 45 minutes of cooking time needed for dried chickpeas. (You can follow the cooking method in the linked recipe below if you have the time and the inclination to make the ultimate hummus using chickpeas from scratch, which is time-consuming but not difficult.)

I did, however, use some other tricks I've learned for dealing with canned chickpeas, including warming the chickpeas up in the microwave to soften them and saving the aquafaba from the can, which is the liquid the chickpeas are "cooked" in during processing. Oddly, Hirsch's recipe makes a fundamental mistake at the outset in calling for the chickpeas to be processed alone at first, and then with just the tahini, without adding the cooking water until the very end, even though his article notes that the commercial and home kitchens he visited processed the chickpeas from the beginning with some of their cooking water, which he says is "a critical ingredient for reaching a silky consistency." When I followed the recipe as written and processed the chickpeas by themselves, it was impossible to achieve a smooth consistency no matter how long I ran the processor. I fixed that misstep during my second go round. I also upped the amount of lemon juice just a tad, and included some of the cumin when processing the chickpeas so the flavor would be better dispersed instead of completely concentrated on the top. My tasting panel (Mom, Grandma Judy, and Pop-Pop) and I all agreed with leaving out the garlic, which resulted in a much cleaner flavor. Overall, I think this is a significant improvement over our previous recipe. Let me know what you think.

Hummus 2.1

Inspired by Christopher Kimball's Milk Street Magazine (May/June 2017) (see a video of the Milk Street hummus, starting ~10:45 in)

Time: 17 minutes

For the creamiest hummus, use Slow Cooker Chickpeas instead of canned. You can vary the flavor of the hummus by substituting ¼ teaspoon of za'atar for the cumin in step 4 or by using smoked paprika and/or ground sumac in place of the regular paprika. You can also see this recipe on Food52 and post your adoring comments there to make me famous. 😎

1 (15.5-ounce) can chickpeas (see note)
85 grams (6 tablespoons) tahini, stirred well
30 grams (2 tablespoons) freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
⅛ teaspoon ground cumin, plus ⅛ teaspoon for serving (see note)
2 tablespoons (27 grams) extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon minced fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley
¼ teaspoon paprika (see note)

    1. Drain the chickpeas, reserving the liquid (aquafaba) from the can. Place the chickpeas in a small bowl with 75 grams (5 tablespoons) of the aquafaba. Microwave on high power until warm, about 1 minute.
    2. Pour the warm chickpeas and aquafaba into the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal “s” blade. Process for 3 minutes until very smooth and creamy, scraping the bowl down once or twice.
    3. Add the tahini, lemon juice, salt, and ⅛ teaspoon cumin, and process until very smooth and light in color, about 1 minute. Add additional aquafaba, 1 tablespoon at a time, if the puree is too stiff. Taste for salt.
    4. Scrape the hummus into a shallow serving bowl. Using a large spoon, swirl a well in the center of the hummus. Fill the well with the olive oil. Sprinkle the parsley over the hummus, then dust with the paprika and remaining ⅛ teaspoon cumin. Serve with warm pita bread or naan or crackers. The hummus can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Makes ~2 cups, serving 4 to 6 as an appetizer.