This spicy harissa hummus is a flavour-packed Moroccan-inspired twist on traditional hummus. The easy recipe uses canned chickpeas and harissa paste (with a few tips and tricks) for the creamiest hummus.
Yield3 cups
Servings12
Equipment
- Food processor (or high-speed blender)
Ingredients
- 2 cans (15 ounces) chickpeas, drained*
- ½ cup tahini paste
- 1 small clove garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons harissa paste*
- 2 tablespoons ice-cold water, or ice cubes
- salt, to taste
Instructions
- Optional step for ultra-creamy hummus: Rub the drained chickpeas between two tea towels to loosen the skins. Then place the chickpeas in a saucepan with a teaspoon of salt and add water to cover the chickpeas by 2 inches (5 cm). Bring to a boil over high heat, and cook until soft – 15 to 20 minutes. Agitate the chickpeas with a slotted spoon and scoop up the chickpea skins as they rise to the top and discard the skins. The chickpeas are ready when you can easily squish them between your fingers. Drain the chickpeas in a colander over a bowl to reserve some of the cooking water.
- Add the warm chickpeas to a food processor (or high-speed blender) with the remaining ingredients and half a teaspoon of salt. Blitz for a minute.
- Then add some of the reserved chickpea cooking water, 2 tablespoons at a time, to adjust the consistency. I add 4 tablespoons in total for thick and creamy, spreadable hummus. Add more for a thinner hummus. Blitz for a few minutes until the hummus is smooth and fluffy.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
Notes
- Don't fret if you have 16-ounce cans. The measurements need not be exact for the recipe to work well. A 15-ounce can has roughly 1.5 cups (240 grams) of drained chickpeas. Use 3 cups (480 grams) of homecooked chickpeas to replace the two cans of drained chickpeas.
- You can skip the optional first step. But while canned chickpeas are cooked, they're not soft enough for ultra-smooth light and fluffy hummus without a high-speed blender. Rubbing off the skins and cooking the chickpeas until soft creates an ultra-creamy and fluffy texture.
- Different brands of harissa paste have different spice levels. If your harissa is potent, start with 2 tablespoons and only add the extra tablespoon of harissa after tasting. You can always add more!
- Store the harissa hummus in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.