Hummus & Pita!

Today I’m doing a side-by-each comparison between using dried and canned chickpeas.
I put 1 cup of dried chickpeas in a bowl, covered with 2″ of water, and let it sit overnight.
I’ll be boiling both chickpeas for about 20 minutes, draining, and weighing them so it’s as close to an apples-to-apples comparison as I can get.

After boiling both for 20 minutes, I drained and weighed the 19oz can, and it came to 375g (and I kept the hulls).
I weighed the exact same amount from the rehydrated batch.

I used a very cheap food processor attachment for my immersion blender, and the canned chickpeas needed more liquid, so I added an additional 4 tbsp water, 1 tbsp oil and lemon juice. Your additional amounts will vary, so slowly add your liquids, I suggest 2 tbsp ice cold water, 1/2 tbsp lemon and 1/2 tbsp olive oil, blend well, and add more liquid if you think it’s needed. We want a dip, not a sauce.

The rehydrated chickpeas should be boiled for an hour, and will likely need even more liquid, depending on the usual factors, plus the strength of your food processor.

Both versions were super nummy, and I’ll be redoing this on March 31 in a proper food processor

Math – 1 cup of dried chickpeas yielded 504 grams, or 1.34 x the amount of a 19oz can.
3/4 of a cup of dried chickpeas = 19oz can.
SCIENCE!

Hummus

Print Recipe

Course Side Dish

Ingredients

1 can 19 oz / 540 grams chickpeas/garbonzo beans ( see notes on soaking/boiling/gas )
2.5 tbsp lemon juice
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp cumin
3/4 tsp kosher salt ( use 1/8 tsp less if using table salt )
1/2 tsp black pepper
3 tbsp olive oil ( plus another tbsp for garnish )
3-4 tbsp tahini ( optional )
3 tbsp ice-cold water, or ice cubes add more after processing if it seems dry

Garnish

1/2 tsp paprika for garnish
some sprigs of parsley for garnish

Instructions

Start with 2.5 tbsp olive oil and the rest of the main ingredients in a food processor or blender, and puree.
If the mixture seems too dry, and more olive oil.
Plate, garnish, serve. It's that easy.

Notes

You can soak the chickpeas overnight, but I find that boiling (starting with cold water) for 45 minutes, drain, and cool in a large bowl of ice-cold water 3" above the chickpeas, rub off the hulls, and scoop them off the top - they float. This has the wonderful side effect of making you a bit less gassy. The tradeoff is less fiber and an extra hour of prep time. You can also boil 6-ish cloves of garlic with the chickpeas to make them much more mellow and buttery.
Ultra-hardcore method for the smoothest hummus is to take 500 g dried chickpeas, soak them overnight, rinse and drain, put in a pot with 1 tsp baking soda, cover with 2" of water, and bring to a boil. The foam that appears needs to be stirred back in. Reduce heat to medium, and cook for 1/2 hour, then put a lid on and cook another 30-60 minutes. Remove the lid and allow any excess water to evaporate. Transfer to a plate and allow to cool completely. Puree 4 minutes in a food processor (scrape sides every minute), and add (one at a time): 70g ice until lighter and smooth, 250g tahini until fluffy, 75 ml lemon juice & 2 tsp salt. Adjust to taste. Here's where we can add garlic, cumin, or any other flavourings.

Pita

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Course Appetizer, Side Dish

Cuisine Greek

Servings 8 pitas

Ingredients

1 cup warm water
2 tsp active yeast
3 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

In a bowl, stir the warm water and yeast together. Let it rest for 10-15 minutes
Add everything else, and knead for 8-10 minutes. When the dough pulls cleanly away from the bowl, it's kneaded enough.
Put the dough in a clean bowl (if needed), lightly coat with more olive oil, cover, and let rest in a warm area for an hour, or until doubled in size.
Gently punch the dough down to deflate it.
Divide the dough into 8 pieces.
On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece out into rounds approx 8-9" diameter, and 1/4" thick.
Warm a skillet (preferably cast iron) to medium-high heat. Drizzle olive oil, and wipe off any excess.
Cook a pita round for 30 seconds, or until bubbles form.
Flip and cook 1-2 minutes, until large spotted circles form on the bottom.
Flip again and cook 1-2 minutes - this is when the pita should puff up.