Start your week with something easy and light because…who’s got time to cook on a Monday, amirite?
I used a little trick to make chickpeas smoky - I cooked them in lapsang souchong, a smoked black tea (熏茶) from the mountains of Fujian in China. It is distinct from other types of tea as leaves are smoke-dried over pinewood fires, imparting a very strong smoky flavour. As fancy as it may sound, it is available from mainstream brands like @twiningsuk
Also, I love the crunchiness provided by adding dukkah! For those unfamiliar, dukkah is a blend of nuts and spices from Egypt. You can easily find it in groceries but where’s the fun? In all seriousness, I made my own because I always find that store-bought dukkah can be a bit inconsistent as each brand uses a slightly different mix and balance of spices. I used a 50-50 mix of hazelnuts and almonds - I really prefer it this way.
For the Hummus
Ingredients
1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
2 sachets of lapsang souchong
1/3 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup tahini
1 lemon, juiced
1 clove garlic
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
A few ice cubes
2 tbsp (or more) dukkah
Fresh parsley chopped
Salt to taste
For the Dukkah
Ingredients
1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts
1/2 cup toasted almonds
1/2 tbsp cumin seeds
1/3 tsp aniseeds
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp sesame seeds
A pinch of salt
Method
Boil 1l of water, tea bags, chickpeas, baking soda (to speed up the cooking process) and salt. Cook until the chickpeas are soft and have darkened due to absorbing the tea. Drain and transfer to a high speed blender.
Add all other ingredients except dukkah and blend to a smooth dip. The purpose of adding ice cubes is to make the hummus extra creamy - it’s a nice trick that really works!
To make the dukkah:
Dry-roast all seeds and transfer to a mortar or blender. Blend to a fine powder. Next, add almonds and and salt and blend again. Lastly, add the hazelnuts and give it a few pulses - I blend ingredients in batches because I like the hazelnuts to be quite chunky and the rest to be a powder.
Sprinkle on top of your hummus along with fresh parsley and enjoy!
