Hummus or Houmous?

It took me over half an hour just to write the name for this oil free hummus recipe. Is it hummus or houmous? After a while of researching I never found a definitive answer. I’ve always used the houmous spelling and I’ve always felt that the spelling of hummus feels like a western adaptation due to decades or even centuries of people not fully knowing how to spell houmous…however, it seems dictionaries all over the world do actually use the hummus spelling, so, hummus it is. Hummus is a middle eastern dish consisting of blended chickpeas and oil, however, you know I don’t add oil to my recipes so we will be substituting the oil in this recipe with a little tahini which is a butter made from sesame seeds.

Hummus has been a love of mine since I was a young teenager and for years I was buying pre packaged
hummus because I didn’t realise how easy it was to make at home and how much healthier and cheaper
it is. This hummus recipe provides approximately 6 servings. I find it keeps fairly well in an air tight container in the fridge for about 1 week.

Do you have a diet restriction?

This recipe is great for the following diet restrictions:

Vegan
Vegetarian
Gluten Free
Dairy Free
Nut Free
Low GI
Low FODMAP (in small amounts)

Step 1: Prepare the chickpeas

Firstly, you need to prepare your chickpeas. I bought canned chickpeas which come pre cooked, if your using dried chick peas then cook them first. Most 400g cans will contain around 240g of chickpeas and the rest of the tin is aquafaba, the liquid. Drain the aquafaba into a cup and save it for later, you may need it to thin down the hummus. The shells of the chickpeas are tougher than the inside of the chickpea so in order to get your hummus completely smooth your going to need to deshell every single pea. I know its tedious and time consuming but it really is worth doing so. If you skip this step, your hummus will not be smooth no matter how long you blend it or how much tahini you add.

Step 2: Blend the ingredients together

Once de shelled, put your chick peas into a blender or food processor. Add 4 tablespoons of tahini into your blender. Give your chick peas a quick blitz before adding the juice of half a lemon 1-2 cloves of garlic (depending on size) and 1/4 tsp of salt. Blend for 30-60 seconds. If your hummus is sticking to the sides of the blender and not actually getting blended then add 2-4 tablespoons of the aquafaba you saved earlier (water can also be used if you forgot to save it). When your hummus is well blended give it a taste. If you feel it needs more lemon, garlic or salt then add it now.

If your finding your hummus is still quite lumpy and not as smooth as you would like add an extra tablespoon of tahini. This should act as a good base for any flavour of hummus as the lemon, garlic and salt are subtle enough flavours in this case to be able to put larger amounts of other flavours in without the lemon and garlic overshadowing everything. If you want this hummus to specifically taste of lemon and garlic you may need to add more than stated.

How to store oil free hummus:

Store in the fridge, in a sealed container for up to a week.

Alternatives and substitutions:

Lemon and garlic oil free hummus recipe not your thing? Why not try:

Sweet Chilli
Tomato and garlic
lemon and coriander
Caramelised Onion (my personal favourite)

What to serve oil free hummus with?

Currently my favourite way to eat hummus is in a tortilla wrap, paired with a large handful of spinach leaves, cucumber and peppers.

Another really popular choice for hummus is crusty bread or crackers to dip into the hummus.

Can I freeze hummus?

Personally I have not tried to freeze hummus so I cannot recommended. Some internet sources suggest you can freeze hummus for short periods of time but it could effect flavour and texture.

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