Hummus
Food
Recipe
I first discovered hummus in Cyprus over 40 years ago when holidaying there with my parents and have been a fan ever since. Hummus has now become one of Australia’s favourite dips and dehydrating it provides a great source of lightweight calories when hiking. I’m pretty traditional in how I eat hummus using flat bread that makes a great lunch or if I’m really lazy will just eat it with a spoon straight out of the rehydration container. This recipe can be made in bulk and stored until needed.
Serves: 4
Approximate serving (dry weight): 77 grams
Approximate calories/serving: 261 calories
Ingredients
800grams Tinned chick peas (2 X 400 gram tins drained and and rinsed)
1/4 cup Lemon juice (you may need more than this if the mixture is to dry to blend properly)
2 teaspoons Minced garlic (add more or less depending on your taste. Its a good idea to have your tent mate eat this as well to reduce complains about garlic breath!)
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Cumin
1 teaspoon Smoked paprika (use smoked paprika as it provides an ‘earthier taste’ )
1/2 cup Tahini (unhulled is better)
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
Preparation Instructions
- Add all the ingredients to a food processor
- Blend until the mixture is smooth adding lemon juice in small amounts as you go
- Spread onto a solid plastic sheet that comes with your food dehydrator. Make sure the mix is even to minimise the drying time
- Dry on a medium heat (55 degrees celsius if you are using and oven) for approximately 7-9 hours. Cut through the wet mix a few hours in to allow the warm air to get right into the mix
- Once the mixture is relatively solid and dry put into a mixing bowl and squash all the lumps until you are left with mix that resembles fine biscuit crumbs
- Put back into the dehydrator for a further hour to remove the last of the moisture
- Grind with a mortar or blend again to breakdown the large lumps
- Store in an airtight container until needed. To use split into the desired meal size (approximately 75 grams of dry mix will provide 4 serves). This recipe will provide 4 meals for the average person, 3 if you are really hungry. I’m a big eater and am comfortable with this mix doing 4 meals. If your a small eater this will make 5 meals. I have stored the dehydrated mix for 8 weeks and not had any problem with the mixture going off so long as the mixture was fully dry and the container is well sealed
- Rehydrate and serve with flatbread
To rehydrate
- Add the dry mix to a container e.g. peanut butter jar
- Slowly add small amounts of water until you reach the desired consistency (approximately 1/3+ cup water). While most ultralight meals will often require water at almost a 1:1 ratio this recipe is an exception requiring very little water to bring it back to life compared the amount of dried mix
- The dip is ready to eat as soon as you have added the water. You can also add an extra bit of oil if you wish
- Eat straight or add to flat bread, corn chips or dry biscuits
Hummus mixed in food processor ready to dry
Spread onto plastic sheet of a food drier ready to be dehydrated
After a couple of hours use a spoon to cut into the semi dry mix to break it up and allow extra air movement
Fully dried on the rack but still a bit lumpy
Place into a bowl and grind the large lumps out with a pestle. Alternatively place back into a dry food processor to crush the last of the lumps
Store in an airtight container until ready to use. I have kept this mix for 8 weeks without any problems provided the mix is fully dry and you use a good container
Place into a container then add water (and oil to taste). Add water slowly as there can be a fine line between just right and too wet.
Serve on flat bread, corn chips or dry biscuits or eat straight with a spoon. The mixture is easy to eat as soon as you have reconstituted the dried mix