With a shortage of chickpeas, the price of deli staple hummus has risen by 30%, but savvy cooks can make their own!
Apparently (according to reports) a worldwide shortage of chickpeas is upon us. You might have noticed the price at your local supermarket creeping up over the last 12 months. People are up in arms – especially vegans and vegetarians, who rely on the mezze favourite for a decent protein hit. It's funny that. Something 20 years ago reserved for hippy (and rare) veggie restaurants, is now everyday fodder, chucked into our trolleys as casually as a tin of beans, or a loaf of bread.
Personally I'm more freaked out by the fact we're running out of cocoa, but all you hummus lovers fear not – there is a solution to your woes. You just need to be prepared to put the work in.
Armed with a tin of cannellini beans and a few additions, you can make your own chickpea-free dip. And if you really want to keep it local, go for British-grown beans from Hodmedod's in Suffolk, whose Carlin beans (you need about 230g soaked, ready to cook weight) would do quite nicely here.
All you need is a food processor or blender.
Chickpea-free hummus
(makes one small bowlful)
Ingredients
1 400g tin cannellini beans, drained (a few reserved for decoration)
2 cloves garlic peeled and chopped
1tsp ground cumin, toasted
Large pinch cayenne
Large pinch sea salt
4tbsps olive oil (light)
4tbsps light tahini
Juice 1 lemon
Iced cold water
Method
Place the beans, garlic, cumin, a pinch of ground cayenne, a pinch of salt, the oil, tahini and lemon juice in your food processor or blender. Blend until smooth. A great way to get it extra smooth without adding additional oil is to add a little iced water. So if you find it's too thick for you, add water, a spoonful at a time, until you have a consistency you like.
Taste the mixture and add salt to taste, and maybe more cayenne pepper if you want too. Store in the fridge for up to two days.
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