Recipes

What you do

To cook the chickpeas- drain them and rinse. Place in a large saucepan and cover with plenty of cold water. Bring to the boil for 5 minutes and skim away any scum on the surface. Add the bicarbonate of soda- beware as it will bubble up furiously. Cook for about 40 minutes until really soft, keep skimming throughout the cooking time.

To make the hummus you will need to reserve the cooking liquid, so drain through a colander into a bowl. You should have around 600g of cooked chickpeas and for this weight you will need 250ml of the liquid. Do this whilst it is all hot so can get a smoother finish.

Add the cloves of garlic and blend with a stick blender or in a food processor. Add the rest of the ingredients then tip into a bowl and cover with clingfilm and leave to stand and thicken.

Store in the fridge in an airtight container, it will keep for up to 2 days.

When you ant to serve it, taste first then adjust with salt and lemon juice. Top with roasted ground cumin or smoked paprika, stud with flat leaf parsley or chopped coriander and toasted pine nuts. Olive oil, Za’atar or sumac also make delicious finishes.