Hummus

Hummus is a tasty and nutritious dip.


Ingredients

3 cups raw dried chickpeas (or skip the soaking and cooking steps, and use 7 cups of drained tinned chickpeas)
9 cups water (twice)
1 T cooking oil
3/4 cup (175 g) tahini
3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
12 cloves of garlic (peeled and roughly chopped)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 T salt
1/2 t freshly ground black pepper
approximately 3/4 cup chickpea cooking liquid


Procedure

Soak the chickpeas in the water overnight, then drain (skip this step if you are using a pressure cooker).

Gently simmer the chickpeas with the next lot of water (generously salted) and the tablespoon of oil until very soft, but still whole (about 3 hours, or 1 1/2 hours if using a pressure cooker).

Drain the chickpeas, and reserve a few cups of the cooking liquid (you will need it later).

Rinse the chickpeas with plenty of cold water, while doing so, gently rub them between your hands to release the skins, they should float away with the rinsing water. After a several changes of water, and removing a majority of the skins, drain the chickpeas again.

Using a food processor (or other means), mix the lemon juce with the tahini.
Process (or mash) the chickpeas in batches, using the lemon juce and tahini mixture, the olive oil, and the cooking liquid as required to maintain the desired consistency (add the garlic to the batch with the olive oil, and process until smooth).

In a large bowl, using a spoon, mix the salt and pepper into the other blended ingredients (add additional cooking liquid, if still too thick).


Notes, tips, and variations

Use a pot that will hold several times the volume of the chickpeas and the water for cooking the chickpeas, because they will foam (the tablespoon of oil minimises that, however).
Use olive oil (or Canola oil, it's cheaper) instead of the reserved cooking liquid to thin the hummus, it's nicer, but not as good for you. Alternatively, mix in a tablespoons of olive oil into a serving before eating.
It's particularly good when eaten with sliced french stick (bread), but is also a nutritionally sound alternative to most other dips.
Hummus freezes really well, so consider making a double batch, and then freezing most of it in containers small enough to hold two servings (they can be defrosted overnight in the refrigerator, as needed).