(Excerpt from the book "Malka's Divine Kitchen" by Malka Kafka published by Znak)
„"Politics is too serious a matter to be entrusted to politicians" Charles de Gaulle
There are topics that should be raised carefully in company. For example, politics. Or hummus. Really! If you do not believe that chickpea paste can evoke such hot emotions, try to throw this topic while sitting in a pub. If you meet a temperamental interlocutor, and if you are not in Scandinavia you will definitely meet, not to mention the Middle East, you can cause an argument.
Of course, many nations (not loving each other) subscribe to hummus, but smoke six by authorship. The real confusion begins when discussing the recipe and the method of serving. For some it is obvious that it should be smooth as cream, almost liquid. For others - dense, with a slightly grainy structure. Acidulous. Insipid. Flooded with tahini. With garlic. No garlic. Fragrant with cumin. No spices. With roasted pine nuts. With za'atar.
There are those who obligatorily bite it with onions and hard-boiled eggs, others grab their heads at the sight of this barbarism. Fortunately, for thousands of years, no one came up with the idea to standardize hummus, chain it in stocks of recipes, attach certificates and assign a region of origin. To add fuel to the fire (I also like hummus), I present my opinion on hummus below. I've been serving hummus like this in my restaurant for many years and no one complains, quite the opposite. don't you agree? I invite you to argue - after all, few things build bonds like arguments.
SERVING: for 4 people
Utensils: food processor with knives or hand blender
INGREDIENTS
4 cups cooked chickpeas (or canned)
8 tablespoons tahina sesame paste
¼ cup of olive oil
1 level teaspoon of chopped garlic
4 tablespoons of lemon juic
1 teaspoon salt (flat!)
½ teaspoon of ground cumin
a pinch of ground black pepper
½ cup crushed ice or cold water
Optional – ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes or ½ cup chopped parsley/cilantro or 2 tsp dried smoked paprika
PREPARATION
Soak 2.5 cups of dry chickpeas in water for at least 8 hours. Drain the water. Put the chickpeas in a pot and cover with fresh water. Cook over low heat for at least an hour until the chickpeas are very soft. Drain gently, leaving some liquid.
Set the grains aside to cool completely. You can cook the chickpeas ahead of time and freeze them. Hummus is great when it's still slightly frozen.
Place all ingredients, except crushed ice, in the bowl of a food processor with grinding knives. Start chopping and gradually add crushed ice or cold water. Hard ice crystals grind the mass and emulsify it even more, thanks to which it is easier to obtain a creamy fluffy consistency. grind long. The paste should have the consistency of a smooth cream.
Create your own variation on hummus - add sun-dried tomatoes, parsley and coriander, smoked paprika
The way hummus is served is another matter. It's classic - on a round plate: put a large portion of hummus in the middle of a round plate and rub the paste with a tablespoon so that it forms a ridge on the sides and form a "moat" at the bottom. Pour some olive oil into the groove and sprinkle with parsley or za'atar. For me, it's quite a folkloric way. I serve hummus on an oblong plate, rub it casually, pour flavored oil on it, of course I sprinkle za'atar thickly and eat it with vegetable sticks.
