Homemade Hummus

Hummus is a traditional Lebanese dish made from mashed chickpeas, among other ingredients.

Ingredients:

1. Half a kilo of chickpeas
2. Bicarbonate of soda
3. Tahini Paste
4. Lemons
5. Garlic
6. Salt
7. Olive Oil
8. Cumin Powder
9. Hot Pepper Powder
10. Pressure Cooker
11. Blender
12. Colander
13. Draining Spoon

Method: [quantity of half a kilo]

1. Put half a kilo of chickpeas in a large bowl, and fill the bowl with water until the water level succeeds the chickpeas (until the water covers all the chickpeas). Add one teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda, and let the soak like that over night. The chickpeas may grow larger in size, as they soak up the water. If you see this happen, add some more water.
2. The next day when you want to start cooking, pour the chickpeas into a colander to remove the water, and then wash them well in the colander
3. Put the chickpeas into a pressure cooker and fill the pressure cooker with water, until the water succeeds the chickpeas.
4. Add half a teaspoon of bicarbonate soda
5. Cook in the pressure cooker until the water begins to boil, then change the fire pressure to low
6. Keep it this way for about 10 minutes. You can check if the chickpeas are done if they feel soft. That said, the amount of time you keep them in the pressure cooker at low heat can vary, so check the chickpeas in 5 minute intervals. 
7. Use a draining spoon to carry the chickpeas from the pressure cooker to the blender until the blender is about 3/4's of the way full.
8. With half a kilo of chickpeas, you cannot fit them all into the blender at once. However, each time you do fill up the blender add:

1. Juice from half a lemon
2. Two table spoons of tahini
3. Half a table spoon of salt
4. Two cloves of Garlic
9. When you start the blender, you may find that everything together is too stiff to blend, so add water from the pressure cooker where the chickpeas were previously being cooked (not water from the sink)
10. Keep adding until you can comfortably blend everything. Blend until the texture becomes cream-like.
11. After you have done this with all the chickpeas, put them all into a bowl and mix for half a minute with a spoon.
12. Put the hummus into a plate and add olive oil, cumin, and hot pepper powder.

Love,
MAMA ALPHA