Prep time – 15mins
Cooking time – 0mins
Serves – 6
| Ingredients | Qty | Protein | Fat | CHO |
| Chickpeas, 1 x 400g tin drained | 250g | 16.5 | 5.5 | 38 |
| Tahini, hulled - 2 tablespoons | 40g | 10 | 25 | 1 |
| Lemon juice - 3 tablespoons | 60ml | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Olive oil - 1 tablespoon | 20ml | 0 | 19 | 0 |
| Water - 3 tablespoons (more if needed) | 60ml | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Salt - 1/2 teaspoon | 1/2 tsp | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cumin, powder - 1/2 teaspoon (optional) | 1/2 tsp | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sweet paprika powder - 1/2 teaspoon (optional) | 1/2 tsp | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Garlic 1-2 cloves (optional) | 1-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total per serve | 1 | 4g | 8g | 7g |
Serves – 6 (1/4 cup each)
To cook your own chickpeas from scratch see below. Or use canned chickpeas. For traditional humus, replace the spices with 1 large clove of garlic.
Preparing the humus
This is really simple. Just add all the ingredients to a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Double the batch and freeze half.
Storing the humus
Transfer the humus to a pyrex or other container and store in the fridge. Humus can also be frozen.
Cooking your own chickpeas
Below are two methods: 1) germinating, and 2) quick soaking. This does require some planning ahead, and is worth it if you want to reduce canned foods. It cooks up the equivalent of 3 – 4 cans of beans at a fraction of the cost. Soaking makes the chickpeas more digestible and reduces the cooking time. The germination steps enhance this even more.
1) Soaking and germinating
Add a packet (~ 375g) of dry chickpeas to a large bowl and cover with water. The chickpeas will swell to at least double their size, so make sure the container allows enough room for this. Soak overnight or for 8 hours, then drain. To rinse the chickpeas, cover with water and drain once again into a colander. Sit the colander inside the now empty soaking bowl and cover loosely with a tea towel. Leave for another 8 hours then repeat the rinsing process. Cover again and let sit for another 8 hours. By this stage the chickpeas should be starting to grow a little shoot from its pointed end. They have started to germinate. Now is a good time to cook them.
2) Quick soaking
Add a packet (~ 375g) of dry chickpeas to a large bowl and cover with water. The chickpeas will swell to at least double their size, so make sure the container allows enough room for this. Soak overnight or for 8 hours, then drain. Rinse again and they are ready to cook.
Cooking the Chickpeas
A pressure cooker is the fastest way. For soaked chickpeas allow 30-40 minutes.
For stove top cooking, add the soaked and/or germinated chickpeas to a large saucepan. Cover with water that is 2 times the depth of the chickpeas. Bring to the boil. Scoop off any white foam that forms, then cover and boil gently for an hour or more until chickpeas are soft. Letting them sit in the hot water for another hour before straining will help to soften further.
Storing the cooked chickpeas
Drain the chickpeas through a colander and transfer to a container to store in the fridge or freezer, ready to add to a recipe as needed.
