HOMMOS BI TAHINI

We all love hommos bi tahini. That’s a fact. We argue about its origin, we discuss its history, we argue over the right pronunciation of its name. But we still love it.

For me hommos bi tahini is the taste of home. It is the taste of family gatherings. It is the taste of the beach and the taste of the Lebanese mountains. It is the dip for all occasions in every season of the year.

Furthermore, the only dip that may carry hommos in its name is the one prepared with chickpeas. For non-Arabic speaker’s information, hommos is chickpeas. All the other new creations like red beet hommos or pumpkin hommos shouldn’t be called as such. Better call them mtabbal or invent a new name, but for heaven’s sake keep hommos bi tahini alone!

It is no secret; the tastiest hommos bi tahini is prepared from scratch, going through the whole procedure. Soaking dry chickpeas overnight, cooking them until tender, let them cool down, peeling them (for the best creamy result), and pureeing them in a food processor.

The rest is either following a good recipe or following your taste buds for the right balance of tahini, lemon juice, garlic and salt. Hommos bi tahini never disappoints!

I like to stick to the original homemade one, the one my grandmother used to make, not very creamy, with not too much fuss to obtain the creamiest of all. Hommos must taste good, that’s all! It must have the right garlic, salt, lemon juice and tahini amount. With time everyone develops and adjusts taste to their liking.

No doubt about it, hommos bi tahini tastes best when prepared from scratch. But why should you deprive yourself from it if you lack the time for the traditional way. Just grab a tin of cooked chickpeas, discard the tin liquids, rinse and drain the chickpeas and purée them like in the recipe below using fresh water. Make your hommos and enjoy it served as a dip with crudités or as accompaniment to meat, chicken or fish.

Dina Kohl

Hommos bi tahini

Creamy Hommos bi tahini

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Servings: 6 servings

Course: Starter

Cuisine: Lebanese

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 200 g dried chickpeas soaked overnight in 1 litre cold water
• 60 ml tahini
• 3-4 tablespoons lemon juice
• 4 small garlic cloves crushed
• 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
• To garnish: sweet paprika 1-2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Method

 

1. Drain the chickpeas, add them with one litre water to the pressure cooker, put the lid on, and following manufacturer’s instructions, cook over low heat for about 45 minutes. Drain the cooked chickpeas in a colander, preserving the water. Let cool. Keep 1-2 tablespoons whole chickpeas aside for garnish.
2. Purée the chickpeas with 5 tablespoons of the preserved cooking water in a big food processor until you get a thick smooth paste.
3. Combine the puréed chickpeas, garlic, salt, lemon juice and tahini in the bowl and mix well. Adjust to taste if desired.
4. Spread the hommos evenly in the platter, and with the back of a spoon push it up the sides to form a dip all the way around. Place the whole chickpeas in a little mound in the centre. Sprinkle with some paprika and drizzle olive oil in the dipped part of the hommos.

Notes

All text and images © Dina Bayoud Kohl