BLACK CHICKPEA HUMMUS

Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 1-1½ hours

Serves 4-6

My favourite little Persian snackery is Berenjak restaurant in Soho. It’s popular and one can always eat well there. The other week I ordered a few different bits, including their black chickpea hummus, which is amazing and makes a delicious vegetarian substitute for chickenliver parfait in my eyes. I’ve recreated it here.

Dried black chickpeas (kala chana) require pre-soaking and cooking; use a 400g tin, drained, for a quicker fix. It’s important to use a good food processor or liquidiser to produce a hummus that’s light and fluffy. I’ve served it with roasted heritage carrots here but any bread or vegetable would work.

INGREDIENTS

– 100g dried black chickpeas (kala chana), soaked for 24 hours

– ½ tsp bicarbonate

of soda

– 4 garlic cloves, grated – ½ tsp paprika

– ½ tsp ground cumin – 80g black tahini,

or as needed

– 100ml rapeseed or olive oil, plus a little more to drizzle on top – black and white

sesame seeds, to serve

METHOD

Rinse the soaked chickpeas and put them in a saucepan with about 3 times their volume of water, 1 tsp salt and the bicarbonate of soda.

Bring to the boil, cover with a lid and simmer gently for about an hour, until the chickpeas are really soft; this could take up to 90 minutes.

Once the chickpeas are soft, drain them over a bowl to catch the cooking water.

Put the chickpeas in a food processor or liquidiser with the garlic, paprika, cumin, black tahini, oil and about 120ml of the cooking water. Blend until smooth, scraping down the sides now and then. Taste and season as you go. Add more cooking water, and even a little more tahini if needed, to produce a light and very smooth mixture.

Serve sprinkled with black and white sesame seeds and drizzled with a little oil, alongside your choice of things to dip.