Creamy Hummus, Restaurant Style

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Recipe submitted by trisa, 08/12/07

Creamy Hummus, Restaurant Style

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

1 can chickpeas
1/4 cup tahini (from roasted seeds)
1/4 cup lemon juice (not from concentrate)
4 or 5 cloves of garlic
salt
olive oil
parsley
ground cumin
water

Directions:

The secret to good hummus, and the difference between hummus and chickpea mash, is to understand what is really going on with the tahini.

What is milk? Milk is generally an emulsion of protein and fat in a water-based liquid. An emulsion is when you mix one liquid into another that don't generally mix, like oil and water when you make salad dressing. They're not dissolving into each other, but the little molecules of one are suspended in the other.

For dairy milk, it's an emulsion of animal protein, fats, lactose, etc. For soy milk and nut milk, it's the same thing, but now it's nut proteins and oils. But in all cases, the emulsion is where the creaminess comes from in "milk". If you have less water, you call it cream (either dairy cream or nut creams).

Tahini is sesame butter, and to make creamy hummus, the secret is to first turn that into sesame cream! To do that, you need to emulsify the tahini in a water based liquid first. This will NOT happen if you just put everything into a food processor all at once!

OK, so with that background, first put the tahini and lemon juice into a blender (I use an immersion blender) and blend away until it's frothy, white, and creamy. You can substitute a little water for lemon juice... experiment. This is your sesame cream! (If you added a lot more water and blended well enough, you'd get sesame milk.)

Now mince the garlic and blend it into the cream, and add some salt to taste. This is a basic tahini cream sauce that's actually really good on its own!

Now open the can of chickpeas, drain, and rinse them off in a strainer. Whenever using canned beans (except for black beans) it's good to rinse, since it removes the canned-beanie taste.

Take a handful of chickpeas and blend it into the sesame cream until smooth. Continue to blend in chickpeas a little at a time until the cream has thickened, but isn't too thick and is still pale (not the deep yellow of the usual chickpea mash). Add salt to taste.

You won't use all the chickpeas... much less than in many hummus recipes. For the above, I usually use about half of a 24 oz can's worth.

Scoop the hummus onto a plate, put a few whole chickpeas on top, drizzle good olive oil over it, and sprinkle some parsley and/or cumin on top if you like. That's it! It's best if served at room temperature or slightly warmer.


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simplyfemale

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Re: Creamy Hummus, Restaurant Style

« Reply #1 on: August 31, 2007, 08:37:09 AM »

This came out exactly as promised, restaurant quality. Thanks for the hints about creaming the Tahini first. Great recipe!


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little2ant

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afraid AC will call her out on a double post.

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Re: Creamy Hummus, Restaurant Style

« Reply #2 on: August 31, 2007, 09:32:10 AM »

I am so excited to try this technique, as I have been trying to perfect the creaminess with no success. Thank you! I will report my results later.


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amefree

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Re: Creamy Hummus, Restaurant Style

« Reply #3 on: September 12, 2007, 07:33:25 PM »

This is great! It's creamy and has just the right bit of tanginess.

Thanks!


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biodancer

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Re: Creamy Hummus, Restaurant Style

« Reply #4 on: October 11, 2007, 03:47:13 PM »

FINALLY! I actually made hummus that looks like hummus! Yes, I've been making chickpea mash all these years and have never been happy with the texture or consistancy. Although this was far too garlicy for me (I used 4 cloves) it's the best hummus I've ever made. Who knew all it took was blending the tahini first? Thank you, thank you, thank you.


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stephany

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Re: Creamy Hummus, Restaurant Style

« Reply #5 on: October 23, 2007, 01:04:20 AM »

I have never made Hummus before, I usually got the stuff from the grocery store, and always was a little bit of a let down.
But this stuff is awsome! The only thing I added was a couple tablespoons of water and a teaspoon of olive oil. For some reason it was pretty 'dry' at first.
Thanks for this recipe, it was fan-freakin-tastic! Grin


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nerdxcore

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Re: Creamy Hummus, Restaurant Style

« Reply #6 on: October 25, 2007, 11:34:15 AM »

Wow, this recipe is pure gold! I followed it pretty much exactly and the end result was so creamy and delicious. I'll never have to buy the nasty tasting stuff from the supermarket ever again. Grin

Thanks!


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rachogg

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Creamy Hummus, Restaurant Style

« Reply #7 on: January 13, 2008, 05:29:59 PM »

This is a wonderful, easy recipe! I've never made hummus before today and it came out great. The hardest thing was keeping my family out of it. I actually had to make it a second time today, this time a double recipe! Cheesy


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little2ant

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Re: Creamy Hummus, Restaurant Style

« Reply #8 on: January 13, 2008, 07:16:17 PM »

I finally did it! It was a while ago, and it was the best homemade hummus I have ever made. Its still not quite as smooth as the real Mediterranean places get it, but damn close!
I love the author's explanation of how/why this works!

Quote from: little2ant on August 31, 2007, 09:32:10 AM

I am so excited to try this technique, as I have been trying to perfect the creaminess with no success. Thank you! I will report my results later.


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PaganDyke

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Re: Creamy Hummus, Restaurant Style

« Reply #9 on: January 14, 2008, 09:27:15 PM »

Hey. What size can of chickpeas did you use? Peace.


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xmrsodax

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Re: Creamy Hummus, Restaurant Style

« Reply #10 on: January 15, 2008, 01:58:59 AM »

really good, but WAY too much garlic.. lol.
i can just about use two cloves and it tastes too much of garlic already


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samnrich

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Re: Creamy Hummus, Restaurant Style

« Reply #11 on: February 26, 2008, 02:23:07 PM »

This sounds really great, I cannot wait to try it out. I will put some chickpeas in to soak now!!!


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tofreak

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Re: Creamy Hummus, Restaurant Style

« Reply #12 on: February 26, 2008, 03:09:05 PM »

OMG....To die for, so creamy and full of flavor. I used 2 galric cloves instead of 4. Added pepper and alittle sea salt. Over all HIGH FIVE!!!!


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gmaballet

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Re: Creamy Hummus, Restaurant Style

« Reply #13 on: February 28, 2008, 10:02:52 PM »

I will never make hummus a different way. This is the best and most perfect recipe. Try it now!


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KellyNicole

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Re: Creamy Hummus, Restaurant Style

« Reply #14 on: March 25, 2008, 02:49:13 PM »

ABSOLTELY PERFECT!!!


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