Instructions

1. Put your dried chickpeas in a bowl filled with fresh, filtered water. Be sure to cover with at least 3-4 inches of water if not more, because these thirsty little beans will soak up more water than you’d think possible. Set aside for 12 hours. Go to the beach. Go dancing. Go to bed. Forget all about them. I take that back. Do check on them after about six hours to make sure they haven’t guzzled all the water. Top up with more water if necessary.
2. Pour out the soaking water and put into a pan*, covering with fresh water. Add salt. If you’ve read my post on salt you’ll know to put in way more than you think you should, but trust me and do it. The salt will help keep all the good minerals in your beans. Set over a medium heat and bring to the boil. Once boiling turn down to a simmer and cook for about an hour. At this point you should test for doneness. On this occasion I cooked the chickpeas for about an hour and 20 mins and then drained them and let them cool. On another occasion, with a bona fide Israeli chef on hand, he advised over-cooking them to the point where they almost broke down.
3. This the part where I’ll probably frustrate you because I can’t give you precise measurements for making hummus, but you’re going to have go with your gut. Cooking is really all about experimentation, so have a little fun.
4. First: make your tahini sauce. Squeeze the lemons, add to a blender. Skin and add the garlic cloves, and then blend until smooth. Strain to remove any fibrous matter. Set aside.
5. Put the tahini into the blender or food processor and slowly add the half of the lemon/garlic liquid. It should thicken up. Add a splash more and then thin the paste to your desired consistency with iced water. Add a tablespoon at a time. It should be pourable but not too runny. Taste and add kosher salt until it tastes balanced.
6. Throw this and the drained chickpeas either into a food processor or preferably your Vitamix blender. Your device of choice will impact how much water you need to add because the Vitamix really creams the contents and in my experience needs a bit more water to do the job. Blitz everything for about 10 seconds and take a look to see what’s going on. This is when you can add more water (start with a couple of tablespoons) if it looks like a very thick, chunky consistency. Blitz again – maybe for 20 seconds. Take another look. At this point I added quite a bit more water and had to scrape down the sides of the Vitamix jar. After doing this once or twice it started to really blend and come together. I then let it run for about a minute. If you are using a food processor, once you have a nice creamy consistency, let it run for about two minutes – really! This will put some air into the hummus making for a very light and creamy consistency.
7. Taste it. You will probably need to add more salt, but at this point, that's up to you. Serve schmeared on a plate, warm with a generous drizzle of olive oil, tomatoes and possibly even grilled fish. It won't last long!