A tale of Turkey and some homemade hummus

Last year, my friend James and I spent some time in Turkey en route to a friends wedding in Greece (life is tough, what can I say ;)

James makes a great travel companion. He’s positive, enthusiastic, and willing to try anything (except when it comes to food, in which case pizza is the standard fare – luckily this trip also included a few days in Italy!) He also has an amazing knack to remember all the little details of a place that I unfortunately seem to forget. James’s tales of cities he has visited are filled with all the beauty and all the oddities of that particular place. His Istanbul is a mix of shoe shiners and seagulls, old men arguing in the street only to break out into laughter the next minute, carpet store after carpet store after carpet store, sun bathers lapping up the sunshine whilst laying on jaggered rocks along the shores of the Bosphorus and icecream sellers playing magic tricks.

   

Another memory of our time in Istanbul was all the hummus we consumed. So much hummus! We had hummus with nearly every meal, even when it didnt quite go (“You want hummus with your pizza!? Crazy Australians….”) It was so smooth and creamy and bursting with flavour – I could never go back to the bland, watery variety you buy at the supermarket here after experiencing the hummus in Turkey.

I tried to make hummus from scratch once returning home, but without a food processor I was resigned to mash the chickpeas by hand. I’m sure it could be done this way (and kudos to you if this is your method, I lasted about one minute before tiring of it and giving up) however if it far easier – and quicker – if you have a food processor.

Hummus is such a versatile dish – it is infinitely adaptable and there are so many different flavors you can add to it. If you’ve never made hummus from scratch, this is the perfect place to start. Homemade hummus is full of flavour and once you’re tried it its hard to go back to store-bought.

Here is my go-to hummus recipe, and I’ll post a few suggestions on how to use it over the coming days :)

 Homemade hummus

1 can chickpeas, drained

1/4 cup tahini

2 garlic cloves, crushed (I like my hummus garlicky – if you don’t, best to just use one)

Juice of 1 lemon

1/2 tsp cumin

Salt, to taste

1 Tbsp olive oil

2-3 Tbsp extra liquid – either more oil, water or reserve the liquid after draining the chickpeas

Add the first 6 ingredients to a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Then turn on the machine and whilst its running, add in the olive oil first, and then the other liquid 1 Tbsp at a time until you reach the desired consistency (ie as thin or thick and you like it).

Serve with a glug of good olive oil or a sprinkle or sesame seeds and paprika.