Hummus Workshop at Eli's

HUMMUS WORKSHOP WITH ELI

Eli looking for all the right ingredients

Last weekend I went to Eli's to learn how to make Hummus.  While not a staple of my diet, I seem to seek out Hummus when ever I am travelling since it is amazingly simple and tasty and easily bought throughout Israel but especially good from some of the Arab vendors.  Although you usually must wait in "line" to get the good stuff.  I say line in quotes because Israelis don't believe in lines when it comes to Hummus.  Just get into the ball  of people, and try keep making forward progress.  If the shop owner comes out and shakes his head and waves his hands and sounds like he is yelling at the crowd...it means he ran out of hummus.

First you take about 2 kilos of dried chick peas and soak them overnight in water.  You pour off the water and then heat on the stove in new water for a couple of hours until the right consistency which is soft. There are 2 types of chickpeas (at least two types) and they are very different in size and flavor.  Eli uses the small ones for blending into hummus and the larger ones (also soaked and cooked) for side dishes.  In the case of Hummus the side dishes are what are available on the table to put on top of the hummus.  2 kilos seems like a lot of chick peas, but Eli will store in the freezer for months (like we store salmon) and use as needed

One of the side dishes is this green pepper concoction.  Green Peppers some basil, some oil, salt, pepper cumin and olive oil.  Also 8-12 cloves of garlic a cup or so of cilantro.  It looks like the picture below right before you process it.  The after picture is a beautiful green and quite tasty side dish.  You can make a lot of this (as we did) and keep it for other dishes as well.

After Processing

Before Processing

Once you blend all of the chickpeas to a smooth consistency (this will take many trips to the processor) you are ready to add all of the other ingredients.  There will be tahini, oil, salt (a bit) and cumin.  Maybe a cup of tahini (plain) with 3 cups or more of chickpeas.

Like most everyone at Eli's Workshop, including Amir, Nur and Julie, their dog waited patiently.

Hummus is served in a bowl with a lot of side dishes added to the mix.  Eli makes his own Pita bread and his own flat bread which is quite tasty and especially amazing when fresh off the grill.   Some of the sides to add to the hummus were, the green pepper mix, a hard  boiled egg, lemon slices, chick peas, and of course garlic.

I will definitely have an Alaskan Hummus evening.

For more pictures of making Hummus CLICK HERE