Hummus

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Hummus is a popular dish that is simply made with ground chickpeas, olive oil, lemon, and garlic. It is the favorite Mediterranean and Middle Eastern dish that each region has its own way of cooking method. In Turkey, we considered hummus as meze.

When it comes to ingredients, the core ingredients are the same as the other nation’s variations; but, the Turkish hummus has tahini in it and it is topped with Turkish Pastırma and it serves very warmly. These are the main differences that separate Turkish Hummus from the rest of the world’s varieties.

The Greek and Middle Eastern countries are using different ingredients in it, such as yogurt instead of tahini. When I do a little research, I learned that there are more than 50 hummus varieties around the globe and I found out that there is one with avocado in it. In Turkey, we stick to our heritage and we love to use tahini in it.

Serving Style of Hummus

In most cultures, hummus serves for dipping or spread in sandwiches or pita bread. We, Turks, love to eat hummus as a meze and we love to spoon it onto the side of our plates because this is how we eat meze in Turkey. We take a spoon of different meze varieties to our plates and Turkish hummus is one of the best among all mezes.

Cold or Warm Serving

There is an ongoing debate between hummus lovers around the globe about how to serve it. The funny thing is; this debate started after people taste the Turkish variation because as far as I know, there is no other culture that serves hummus warmly as we do in Turkey. In my case, I taste both warm and cold served varieties, but frankly speaking, I like the warm Turkish variation by far with the Turkish pastırma on top more than any other varieties.

It is up to you how to eat it; however, if you haven’t tried the Turkish version of Hummus, I strongly recommend you try it and then decide whether to eat it cold or warm.

Hummus

Course Appetizer
Cuisine Turkish
Keyword Hummus
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 6
Calories 166 kcal

Ingredients

  • 500 g canned chickpeas drained and washed
  • 1/3 cup tahini (sesame paste)
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic crushed
  • 1 juice of lemon
  • 45 ml water
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper powder

Topping

  • 4 strips of Turkish Pastırma or Bacon

Instructions

  1. First drain the chickpeas and rinse them under cold water until the water runs clear. Put the olive oil in a pan and saute the crushed garlic on low heat until tender.
  2. Put the chickpeas and add enough water to cover them. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat and leave the lid on a crack and let the chickpeas simmer about 10 minutes.

  3. Once you see that the chickpeas are falling apart, transfer them with the remaining liquid to the food processor. 

  4. Add the tahini, cumin, salt, lemon juice, and red pepper powder into the food processor and mix them until you have a smooth paste. During processing, add water until you reach the consistency you want.

  5. After you reach the consistency you want, put the hummus into a clay cup or baking dish and cover their top with aluminium foil and bake it in a 175 C oven until it gets warmed well.

  6. While the hummus is baking, fry your Turkish pastırma or bacon in a skillet until they get crispy. Remove the hummus from the oven and sprinkle the crispy pastırma or bacon on top of the hummus and then drizzle some olive oil on top.
  7. Serve warm.

Recipe Notes

Tip: Serve with Lavash or Bazlama bread.

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