Musical Fruit: A worker beholds the majesty of a bevy of dried chickpeas. Image by Getty Images

Editor’s Note:

Following his pilgrimage to the Sabra Dipping Company plant, we asked author Orr Shtuhl to provide us with his secret recipe that made hummus a mainstay in the Shtuhl household.

Shtuhl Family Hummus Recipe

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Although neither of my grandmothers made hummus at home, my parents, brother, and I make hummus using a method so often ascribed to grandmas everywhere: judge by sight; measure nothing.

Ingredients:

Some chickpeas

Some baking soda

Some tahini

Some garlic

Some cumin (or not)

A lemon

1. Take a one-pound bag of dry chickpeas and pour half of it into a bowl or pot (if I ever started with another size bag, I’d be lost). Cover with cold water and let soak overnight.

2. Drain chickpeas, cover with fresh water and two hard squeezes from the baking soda box, and boil until they’re soft as baby food. Drain the cooked chickpeas. In case of steam burns, curse softly.

3. In a food processor, do as Michael Solomonov does and blend 2-3 cloves of garlic with juice from half a lemon. Let garlic macerate in the acid for a few minutes, snacking on the hot chickpeas to pass the time.

4. Add tahini to the food processor: Use a soup spoon to scoop out the two most gigantic gobs of solids you can manage, then tip over the jar and pour in some oil. Then, add water equal to the amount of tahini, knowing it will never be enough and you’ll add more later. Add salt.

5. Blend the whole thing together with the chickpeas for a few minutes, until completely smooth. Taste, and realize you forgot to add cumin. It’s ok, try to remember next time. In fact, many people vow that cumin isn’t traditional in hummus to begin with. Congratulate yourself for upholding tradition.

6. Taste for salt, acid, and richness, adding more of the ingredients if necessary. If you eat hummus straight from the fridge, your consistency here should be short of soupy but still uncomfortably thin; it will thicken up when it cools.

7. Serve hummus immediately. After dinner, transfer leftovers to a container, and enjoy the chef’s snack of licking the spatula. Do not lick food processor blade (personal experience).

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