Having bought a bag of chick peas for the falafel, I decided to plough on with the chick pea/Middle East theme and make some hoummous. My local supermarkets have, for some reason, suddenly stopped selling hoummous. It is not very popular here so perhaps it was an unprofitable line. Homemade hoummous is nice because you can adjust the flavours to your own taste and if you have a liquidiser or food processor it is very simple to make.
The secret is not to follow the recipe too closely, but to add the ingredients gradually, stop and taste. If you like more garlic, add more, if you don't like tahini, leave it out. If you like it dry and coarse add less liquid, if you like it really creamy, add more oil. Usually it is served with a dip in the middle filled with olive oil.
Hoummous is better left out of the fridge, but obviously it should be finished up quickly, not left on the counter for days!
Ingredients for hoummous (makes two bowls)
400 g tinned chick peas or home cooked chick peas
2 large cloves of garlic, crushed
one third of a glass of olive oil
juice of one lemon
1 dessertspoon tahini
salt and pepper
If cooking your own chick peas, soak overnight then boil in plenty of fresh water for about 1 hour or until tender. In two batches, pulverise in the processor then put all back in the processor bowl and switch on again. While running, add the garlic, wait a minute then start to add the olive oil, tahini, lemon, salt and pepper. When it reaches desired consistency and flavour it is ready to serve.