I got a call from a friend last night, saying the hummous we sent in our shalach manos tasted exactly like the garlic hummous made by Sabra.  She asked for the recipe, saying it would much cheaper to make it herself than to buy it! 

We made two batches, one with fresh garlic, and one with garlic powder, and I don’t know which she got from.  They should taste basically the same, but I can’t guarantee it.  I’m not making any claim to making a perfect imitation of the Sabra recipe; I’ve never even tasted it!  Here’s the recipe we used, with our adaptations:

Avivah’s Purim Hummous

• 1 c. cooked garbanzo beans (also called chick peas)
• 1 T. tahini (the pure sesame paste, not prepared)
• 2 T. lemon juice
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped, or 1/2 t. garlic powder
• 1/3 c. bean liquid/water
• 1 t. sea salt

Blend the garbanzo beans in the food processor.  When smooth, add the rest of the ingredients, and give them a quick whiz.  Once it was in the containers, we sprinkled a few whole garbanzos on top along with a bit of paprika. 

If you use dried garbanzo beans and cook them yourself, this becomes a very, very inexpensive spread.  A pound of garbanzos equals around 4 cups cooked, and I recently was able to find them for .79 lb (until then I was getting them for around 1.69 lb).  It’s a nice spread to make for Shabbos, quick to make and yummy to eat (and nutritious, too, of course!).  Once you make it yourself, you’ll wonder why you ever thought it was worth spending so much money buying it!

Avivah