Thick and smooth, luscious hummus topped simply with good olive oil, a few reserved chickpeas. Or be a renegade and top with fresh pesto or even blitz a little of my homemade Peri-Peri sauce in for a hot and fiery hummus! Plus cooked this way, you'll get lots of useable aquafaba, for all your vegan egg white substitute needs!
- 50 g dried chickpeas
- 2 heaped tbsp tahini
- 1 clove garlic, peeled
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4-1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 lemon, juice thereof
- 1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp fresh pesto
- 2 tbsp toasted pine nuts
- 2 tbsp Peri-Peri sauce
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Begin by covering the chickpeas with 2-3 inches of cold water and leaving overnight to soak. 24 hours is great but 12 will do.
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Drain and rinse your chickpeas then add to the inner pot of your Instant Pot and cover with another couple inches of fresh cold water. Set to Manual and adjust time to 30 minutes, leaving to do a NPR.
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Strain the cooked chickpeas reserving the liquid in a jug or bowl - you will only need a small amount but the rest can be reduced and used as aquafaba in vegan recipes. I take out a spoonful of whole chickpeas at this point and leave to garnish the hummus with at the end.
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Add the chickpeas to a food processor with the twin blades attachment (or a blender) and add the tahini, garlic, paprika, cumin and half the sea salt, then start blitzing. It will be thick and a little gritty but with the motor running, drizzle in about 2 tbsp of fresh lemon juice.
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Measure out about 100ml (a scant half cup) of the reserved cooking liquid and again, with the motor running, drizzle it in very slowly, stopping to check the consistency and scrape the bowl down periodically. I always add at least 50ml but more often than not add the full 100ml - just note that once the hummus is chilled, it will be a lot thicker than it is right now so unless you like it very thick indeed, err on the side of caution and add a little more than you think.
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Taste to ensure you have the balance of flavours right - you may want more salt (it drinks it up!) or more lemon juice. If making Peri-Peri Hummus, you need to drizzle in the 2 tbsp of Peri-Peri Sauce before chilling it. Blitz again if you need to tweak then scrape the finished hummus into a bowl, cover and chill for at least 2 hours.
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For plain hummus, top with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and scatter with the reserved whole chickpeas.
Or if you prefer, spoon on the 2 tbsp of pesto before adding the toasted pine nuts.
Will keep in the fridge for 48 hours covered well in the fridge.
To make Aquafaba:
After using as much of the cooking liquid as you need to make the hummus, return the rest to your Instant Pot and press Sauté. Cook until reduced in volume by a half to a third (use the volume markings inside the inner pot to guide you).
Chill overnight in the fridge to allow it to thicken up before using. It can be frozen at this stage.
Top Tip - if you want extra thick aquafaba, you could cool the chickpeas in their cooking liquid for 12 hours before straining and making the hummus and aquafaba.