If one of those bean dishes you're considering is Hummus, I spent at least a year fiddling with a recipe, trying to replicate 'Sabra' (closest thing I could find to the hummus I remember from Lebanon. I had a number of neighbors taste test for me. My next-door neighbor Beth made a lot of good suggestions, and now that she’s passed, I think of her every time I make it.
I make it with chana dal (a South Asian chickpea that comes split with skin removed) for smooth texture. Beth thought it was ‘too lemony’, so I use citric acid along with less lemon juice to get the same curdling reaction with tahini. All those years I was making it on the stovetop, but I’ve figured out how to get the same result out of an Instant Pot.
I’m happy for you (or anyone else) to use this. You might want to do what I do, save it electronically (I use Google Drive) make your own notes about what to change to adjust it to your taste. This is pretty close to what I remember from Lebanon.
Instant Pot chana dal hummus:
FULL BATCH (makes about 1530g / 3.37lb)
- 2 C chana dal (dry measure) 400g
- 2–3 Bay leaves
- ½ C sesame tahini (195g) 185
- ¼ C oil, EVOO or avocado
- ¼ C + 2 Tb lemon juice (6Tb)
- 1 tsp salt 6g (try 7g next time?)
- 1 tsp citric acid 5.5g (or 1½ tsp 8.25g)
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 1 tsp dill (optional) 1g
- 1 tsp cumin 3g
- 1–4 cloves garlic (to taste)
- 770ml water
HALF BATCH (makes 1. 45kg (3.2lb))
- 1 C chana dal (dry measure) 200g
- 1–2 Bay leaves
- ¼ C sesame tahini (98g)
- 2 Tb oil
- 3 Tb lemon juice
- ½ tsp salt 3g
- ½ tsp citric acid 3g (¾ tsp 4g)
- ⅛ tsp pepper
- ½ tsp dill (optional)
- ½ tsp cumin
- 1–2 cloves garlic (to taste)
- 385ml water
[Brut: 10–20 hours. Net: 40 minutes]
1. Plate the chana dal as you put it into a pot, removing stones etc.
2. Wash the chana dal several times, until the water is transparent. Soak in clean water 4 hours or more. Then wash again. The grains should absorb most of the water and almost double their volume.
3. Drain soaked chana deal, cover with water 25 min at high pressure, let naturally depressurize (indicator goes down).
NOTE: half batch might need less time (?)
4. Remove Bay leaves
5. Food processor: blend garlic cloves, use silicone spoon to push them together, wait a bit to let allicin form
6. Add tahini, lemon juice, spices, oil. Mixture should emulsify. If not using citric acid, keep adding lemon juice until it does
6. Add chana dal and all the cooking water, grind well (just empty the pot into the processor). Leave it to chill a little while before you continue. It will seem absurdly thin to start, but will thicken up over the next couple of hours. The goal is perfect texture after a week in the fridge
Serve with some good olive oil and chopped parsley.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Notes %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
- Over blending EVOO it can make it bitter, so I add after the tahini ‘pops’, or I use avocado oil.
- To get the most health benefits from garlic, let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes, after cutting and before eating or cooking. Wait allows health-promoting allicin to form.
- Goya yellow split peas work fine in place of chana dal
