That Day I Got Good at Making Hummus

Refika Birgül’s video guide to making right proper hummus has dramatically upped my hummus game.

Ever since I started using chickpea water in place of eggs I’ve had chickpeas coming out of my ears; hummus has been one outlet for them. Alas my hummus was the consistency of stale Play-Doh and tasted not much better. Until I followed Refika’s guidance.

The key points that took my hummus to another level:

1. I removed the skins from the chickpeas. Previously this had seemed absurdly time-consuming, and I’d never done it. Refika’s video shows a really easy way to do this.

2. I used garlic. Even though garlic is one of the foundational ingredients of hummus, I’d always left it out as a “nice to have.” Turns out it’s a “need to have.”

3. A full eight minutes in the food processor, with an ice cube added every few minutes to keep things cool. That’s about 4 times longer than my usual, and the extra time transports the hummus from Play-Doh to silky smooth, rich, and heavenly.

The hummus I made today was so good that it’s what we had for supper: hummus with warmed bread, hummus with carrots, hummus with apples, hummus with crackers.

Pro tip: you can get twice as much tahini, that’s twice as good, from Brighton Clover Farm.

Thanks to Thelma for starting me down this road.