In the kitchen with the City Nomads Chief Alex: Hummus Recipe

PUBLISHED December 30th, 2014 04:00 am | UPDATED April 21st, 2016 08:08 am

I LOVE HUMMUS. It’s one of my favourite foods and I could probably eat it every day if I could. Unfortunately finding good Hummus in Singapore is near impossible. That is why I’m going to share with you my own recipe. It’s one that I get frequently get complimented for and I hope for very good reason :). So here goes my hummus recipe. Enjoy!

First thing to be said. Making hummus is actually very easy. You just need the right ingredients…..

 Ingredients:

• 2 tin of chickpeas
• Juice of 1 large ripe lemon (or two small ones)
• 2-3 cloves of garlic – chopped
• 3/4 cup Tahini
• 100 ml Cold water
• 1/3 cup Olive oil
• Salt and Pepper to taste.
• 1/2 teaspoon Cumin powder (optional)

Important note: Tahini! This is possibly the most importasnt ingredient. Buy the good stuff. In Singapore the best ones you can get are the ‘Al Nakhla’ (Saudi) brand from Mustafa centre, or the ‘Kasih Golden Tahini’ (Jordan) from Zac’s.

DO NOT BUY THE THICK, PEANUT-BUTTERY ONE FROM SUPERMARKETS. IT’S RUBBISH

Method:

Step 1: In a food processor, add the lemon juice, garlic, tahini and olive oil. Process for about a minute.

Step 2: Drain the chickpeas and add them to the food processor (slowly). Keep blitzing.

Step 3: Add cold water to mixture while blending to increase smoothness of mixture.

Step 4: Add salt, pepper (and cumin) to taste  and keep blending until the mixture as a smooth, creamy texture.

At this stage, taste test. If it seems too bland, add salt. Not sour enough, add lemon juice. You get the idea.

Step 5: Pour the mixture into a dish and prepare to garnish…

SERVE

Traditionally, hummus is served warm and fresh, with some kind of topping. In Jerusalem, hummus is often topped with fried mushrooms, minced lamb or onions… Personally, I like to add all three :). See picture at the bottom. However for today I’m just keeping it to simple za’atar, paprika and olive oil.

To accompany your hummus, either make or buy some fresh pita bread. The best pita you’ll find in Singapore is from Pita Bakery on 29 Bali Lane. They make fresh (and delicious) pita daily.

Et voila. Good luck and let me know how it goes!

(Wannabe) Chef Alex aka. Chief Nomad.

Hummus served with balsamic-caramelised red onions, fried mushrooms and minced lamb with a parsley garnish AKA Epic Hummus

Have you tried this hummus recipe? I hope it was delicious 😉