Sabra-Similar Hummus Recipe

I hate those posts that give you a lot of background and photos before finally giving the recipe, so I'm going to do it my way because it's my blog.  :)   I will be putting lots of tips under the recipe, so please give them a read before making the hummus.  If you like it and come get the recipe again then you can skip all the stuff you've already read.

Oh - I'm a jewelry designer, not a chef, so you'll have to figure out serving size, number of servings, calories, and all that stuff yourself. So sorry!

Sabra-Similar Hummus

• 2 cans chickpeas, drained, reserving the juice
• 1 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp sour salt (citric acid)
• 2 tsp garlic, minced
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 6 Tbsp tahini
• 6 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/3 - 1/2 cup reserved chickpea juice

Put everything in a food processor and run on high for 7 minutes or so.  If it's too thick, add a bit more reserved chickpea juice and run until blended.  Make a note of how much you used for next time.  Transfer to a covered container and refrigerate.

Eat with pita chips, raw vegetables, your fingers... whatever tickles your fancy.

In full disclosure, this recipe is a modification of the Copy Cat Sabra Classic Hummus recipe from the SparkRecipes website.  That one has white pepper, and since I hate pepper, I left it out.  I also modified it to be a double batch and to tweak some of the ingredients to fit what we like for taste and consistency.

Tips:

• This makes a double batch.   I figure that if you're going to take the time to gather all the ingredients and run a noisy, messy appliance that freaks the cats out, you might as well make enough to last a while.  You could also share it with a friend or take some to a party.
   
• If you have an Aldi or other discount grocery store near you, I recommend getting some of the ingredients there to save money.  If you're familiar with Aldi brands, you'll see that I got the chickpeas, olive oil, and minced garlic there.  The pita chips also came from there, saving me at least 70 cents a bag, and they taste better than other brands I've tried.
   
• If you put the ingredients in the food processor in the order listed, you won't have to clean the measuring spoons between ingredients.  At the most, you may have to wipe the sour salt off of the teaspoon.  You're welcome.
   
• You could probably substitute regular salt for the coarse sea salt, but I'd probably use a bit less.  We had the sea salt in the house already, so I decided to use it.
   
• The ingredient that makes the hummus tangy is sour salt, which is also called citric acid.  Lemon juice alone won't do it.  I couldn't find it in our grocery store, so I ordered it from Amazon:
  
  
  There are a lot of other options on Amazon, but this one will last a very long time.  One teaspoon makes the hummus plenty tangy.  If you like it less tangy, use less sour salt.  Add more if you want your cheeks to pucker and your eyes to cross.  Either way, make a note of how much you used for next time.
   
• You may have noticed in the above picture that I used purchased lemon juice instead of juicing my own lemon.
  
  
  
  
  I was using fresh lemons, but at 50-75 cents apiece, it was getting pricey.  I wasn't making hummus often enough to use all the juice, and it was going bad (or I was getting anxious that it had gone bad).  This little lemon was on sale for 99 cents, so I got that instead.  It seems to work just fine, and I don't feel too bad for cheating.
  
  If you are going to use the real thing, use a room-temperature lemon and roll it around on the counter, pushing down as you roll.  You'll get more juice.  There will be some oil released from the lemon, so do it on a paper towel.  If you're smarter than I am, you'll freeze the leftover juice in 2 teaspoon portions for use in future recipes.
   
• Have a few paper towels handy and put one or two more down before you get started.  The tahini is very gloppy and gets all over everything.  Learn from my mistakes.  The first time I made hummus I was surprised I didn't get any tahini on the cats, that's how messy I was.
   
• What's tahini, you ask?  It's a sesame paste.  You can find it in the Middle Eastern section of grocery stores, but I found this on Amazon that was cheaper per unit than my grocery store and will last for a number of batches:
  
   

• Stir the tahini well before adding it to the food processor because it separates.  I use a non-measuring tablespoon for stirring and pushing the tahini off of the measuring tablespoon into the food processor.
   
• Rinse things right after you're done using them, because the tahini and the hummus are rather sticky and will come off much more easily if rinsed immediately.  Use a sprayer if you have it.  While you're at it, you might as well wash them.  Get it over with.
   
• For this batch I used about 1/4 cup of reserved juice.  It is a little thick, I think, but it tastes just fine.  I recommend using at least 1/3 cup, but 1/2 cup is probably the right amount.  The recipe I started with uses 1/2 cup per one can of chickpeas, but that makes it very thin.  Feel free to fiddle with the measurements to get the consistency you want.
   
• The hummus will be warm after running the food processor.  Don't let that stop you from taste testing it with a pita chip or three.  You can evaluate the consistency and taste and make adjustments before washing the equipment.

• To give you an idea of how much this makes, this container is supposedly five cups, and it seems to be more than half filled.  I'm going to estimate 3.5 cups.  Again, jewelry designer, not chef.  If anyone wants to be industrious and measure it, let me know what you find out, and I'll gladly update this post.
  
  Update: Since I'm making hummus a lot now, I decided to upgrade to a dedicated hummus bowl that looks a lot nicer than a ratty plastic container.  I got a 4 cup TrueSeal glass bowl from the Container Store (this link on their website is for all the sizes - the bowls are very nice), and the hummus fills it to the top, so this recipe makes 4 cups.  That, my dears, is how a jewelry designer does math, ignoring her math minor, computer major, and years as a programmer.  :D

I hope you enjoy this recipe!  If you try it, please leave me a comment on this post with what you think (good or bad - we can't all like the same things).  If you have any further tips, I'd love to hear those, too.

The next post will be back to my usual topics.  I'm working on a new bezel technique, and once I've perfected it, I'll post about it.  I also have plans to post instructions for a necklace made with all that political junk mail we get before elections.  I also have some new tools that need reviewing.  Stay tuned!