A homemade version of Homous

We have recently discovered the art of sprouting...well I guess art is perhaps a small exaggeration when you consider that you pretty much soak some grain or legumes or beans overnight and let them drain for a few days and before you know it...there's your sprouts!

We've been sprouting chickpeas...and last night we turned our sprouted chickpeas into the most delicious, nutty homous you could imagine.

Here's what we started with...

I went to the local market, to one of those stalls that has bags and bags of all sorts of rice and grains and beans. The lady behind the counter was remarkably patient while I made up my mind, following me along the rows expectantly clutching a little bag just waiting to measure out what I wanted. I managed to resist the urge to buy a little bit of everything and came away with about 240g of chickpeas and 150g of mung beans (they are destined for the sprouting jar later today!)

You can buy sprouting kits but I think they're expensive when really all you need is a reasonably large jar and some mesh with a couple of elastic bands. The mesh bags you get oranges in work really well. We put about half the chickpeas into a jar and left them to soak overnight. You have to remember not to fill the jar too much with beans ... they expand to at least twice their original size. 

Sprouts are ready

Rinse them the next day and then turn the jar upside down at an angle so the water drains out throughout the day. A dish rack works well. Then all you do is rinse them every day for about two or three days and...voila...you have sprouted chickpeas. We left ours for three days and the sprouted bit was almost a centimetre long and I reckon we probably couldn't have let them go much longer. 

Getting the sprouts ready to blend

Out came the trusty food processer and in went our chickpeas, two or three tablespoons of tahini, a couple of garlic cloves, some lemon juice from about three lemons (with a bit of pulp thrown in too), a little bit of olive oil, a teaspoon of paprika and half a teaspoon of chilli powder (we love our chilli too). All of the ingredients are to taste really and we did plenty of that as we blended. If you don't like spicy things then you can leave out the paprika and chilli.

Hmmm...chilli

Blend until you get a smooth consistency, you may need to add a bit of water or olive oil to help out. What you end up with is a bit different from the stuff you buy in the shops. I think the sprouting makes the chickpeas really nutty with a tiny, tiny hint of sweetness. Ours tasted more...well...earthy...if that makes any sense. We just ate it with crackers...a lot of it with crackers. 

There is twice as much again in the fridge!