The word magic and hummus don’t often go in hand, especially as its accessibility and readyness has made the once exotic hummus almost ordinary. It’s so common nowadays that there are numerous versions already available in the supermarket shelves, hence the challenge to make it interesting again. But why? you may wonder, I’ll go with the magic again. Earlier last year, an excessively healthy approach to diet (combined with a lack of food writing!) had me professionally prescribed by a nutritionist with a daily dose of nuts, avocado and above all, hummus. I had to ‘take it’ everyday in order to recover but in just a matter of months I was back on my feet again. Therefore I am forever grateful to hummus. But no matter the various available options, you have to be creative to tolerate a hummus routine. As ever, my beloved gluttonous husband doesn’t seem to mind but I do get bored of flavours quite quickly.
My Syrian grandma, of course, had the best hummus recipe, which I treasure solemnly and will only reveal when I publish her kitchen memories book, sometime later in life.
Meanwhile, this is one of those versions I played with over those months last year. The essence of the recipe is maintained (otherwise I would be cursed from the afterlife) and remains ‘medicinal’ but just slightly more spiced up to make it exciting. I haven’t seen this one out there yet so hurry up and make it before it’s easier to just buy it.
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| © The Teaspoon |
Ingredients
120 g tahini, mixed in a cup with 100 ml water
120 g chickpeas, drained -preserve some of the liquid to blend more smoothly
120 g sweet potato, peeled and diced
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon Za'atar - I always use Zaytoun's Za'atar
1 teaspoon lemon salt/citrus salt or the juice of half a lemon
1 teaspoon smoked salt in flakes
1 tablespoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon chilli flakes
2 garlic cloves, crushed
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C/390F.
Place the sweet potato dices in a baking dish prepared with baking paper. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper and bake in the preheated oven for approximately 15-20 minutes or until they are cooked.
In a blender place the cooked sweet potato, tahini dissolved in water, drained chickpeas, salt, cumin, chilli flakes and olive oil. Mixed for about 3 minutes or until you obtain a smooth paste. Please note the texture won’t be as smoother as the original hummus as the sweet potatoes brings some more texture. Serve in a bowl and top with Za’atar and an extra drizzle of olive oil. Enjoy with bread, crackers or crudités of your choice.
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| © The Teaspoon |
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| © The Teaspoon |
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