A couple of small cups of dip or paste for chips and sticks are surely demanded at a party.  But who want high-calorie, high-fat mayo or cream cheese in it?  We want guilty-free, healthier alternative but have no compromise on its taste— then hummus is what you want.

Homemade hummus is healthy and yummy, and  actually very easy to make.

Calories comparison (from www.nutrientfact.com.)

Regular mayo (1 cup)  920 cal.

Regular cream cheese (1 cup) 810 cal.

Hummus (1 cup) 420 cal.

I guess my recipe used much less oil than packaged hummus… maybe less calories as well.

Ingredients

– Dried chick peas or Garmanzo  1/2 pound

I strongly recommend to use dried peas. Canned peas are easy to use but does not taste as good.

– Tahini paste 3-5 tbs.

Tahini is sesame seed paste. I can find it at a neighborhood supermarket but if you could not find it nearby, go to Amazon.

– Peanuts butter, unsweetened  2-4 tbs.

(I like to use peanuts butter in addition to the sesame paste. Please be sure nobody is allergic to peanuts.)

– Olive oil 3 tbs.
– 3 Lemon
– 1-3 cloves of garlic
– sugar 1 tbs
– salt
– pepper

How to make

1)  Soak the pick peas in water for 8 hours or overnight.

2) Put the peas and a generous amount of　water in a large pot and boil over high heat.

You will see a lot of foams on the surface. Discard it.

3) Reduce the heat and cook until peas are tender. It may take 30- 40 min.  Peas should always be under water. You may need to add water accordingly.

4) In the mean time, squeeze lemon and peel garlic.

5) Drain and separate the peas and hot water. While peas are still hot (but not so hot that it  damages your blender) , put is in blender.

Add half of tahini, peanuts butter, lemon juice, sugar, olive oil, garlic and a ladle or two of the hot water, and process until all are roughly blended.

 

Taste it bit. But it does not have enough flavor yet. You may have noticed that hummus tastes so different everywhere. Some are lemony and sour, some are spicy with red pepper and some others have garlic punch. Now you can make your own flavor.

I think this is the fun part of cooking. Taste a bit and add lemon if you like it to be fresher and sour, put another spoon of sesame paste or peanut butter for buttery flavor,  and more hot water and olive oil for smoother texture.  Salt, pepper, a bit of sugar, and you can even sprinkle your favorite spice and herbs to express your originality. Enjoy!

I have the recipe in Japanese, too.
ひよこまめのペースト・フムス