Soak the chick peas in water overnight.

We recommend cooking the chickpeas in a pressure cooker but if you do not have one, you can use a heavy pot suitable for low-heat, long-time cooking. We will provide the directions for both.

When you are ready to cook, rinse the chickpeas in plenty of running water. Put the chick peas in the pressure cooker, add sufficient water to cover them and bring the water to a boil without closing the lid of the pressure cooker. Boil the chickpead for about five minutes, then drain and discard the water. The purpose of this initial cooking is to reduce the stomach gas produced by the chickpeas.

Put the chickpeas back in the pressure cooker, add just enough water to cover them. Close the lid and turn on the heat. Cook for 35 minutes after the pressure cooker reaches the optimum pressure. At the end of the cooking period, turn off the heat and let the pressure cooker cool down to the room temperature. Note that we did not add any salt during this step - this is to avoid hardening of the proteins in the chickpeas.

If you prefer to cook the chickpeas in a regular pot, follow the same procedure except that you have to let the chickpeas simmer for 1.5 - 2 hours or until they are tender.

We strongly recommend removing the skins of the chickpeas one by one if you have the patience. We believe this is a must to achieve the best consistency although we have to admit that it is a tedious task, hence, it is never done in restaurants. Do not discard the water the chickpeas were cooked in - you may wish to add some of this chickpea juice to your humus to reach the desired consistency.

If you do not have the time to cook the chickpeas, you can use canned chickpeas. We do not recommend canned of any thing but if you do not have the time, go for it, nowadays you can even find organic chickpeas. You can still remove the skins even if they are canned.

Puree the chick peas in a food processor. Add the olive oil, tahini, cumin, black pepper, garlic and salt. Be sure to pass the garlic through a garlic press first do not add salt if you are using canned chickpeas!!!! Continue running the food processor until the mixture is smooth free of clumps. At this point, add the lemon juice and the water to obtain the desired consistency. Do not add all three tablespoons of water at once because the consistency of the tahini made by different manufacturers varies quite a bit. You fill find the humus sold in Middle Eastern restaurants not as dense as the humus that will result from this recipe. If you like your humus a bit more runny, add more water.

Pour the humus onto a serving plate, garnish with olive oil and parsley. Serve with Turkish pita bread.

Last Update: January 11, 2009