Tasteless hummus and falafel

Whispered

We are starting to feed the baby real food so I'm doing my best to make everything from scratch so I can control whats in the food.

I made my own hummus and falafel. My two favourite things to eat. Served them with fresh olives diced and scattered on to the blob of hummus, some cheese and crusty bread.

Bread and cheese demolished but the hummus and falafel, tasted then ignored.

Now I can't blame him. I'm so disappointed at how tasteless and bland they both are compared to shop bought. Recipes were followed to a t. The hummus taste as it should, just less hummus-y than I'm used to. Milder and more bland. The falafel tastes like a ball of fried chickpeas despite herbs and spices added as instructed.

Any hints on where I went wrong?

Alun

Seasoning possibly. Don't be afraid of salt, contrary to popular belief these days, it won't kill you. Also for any recipe that uses spices, go by taste, the quantities given in many recipes are often laughably small in my opinion.

Whispered

Thanks alun. You could be right about the salt. But because there will be a 7 month old eating it I do have to limit it. If it was just me I'd lash it in.

I'll try again with more seasoning. I think 1 tsp of cumin and 1 tsp ground coriander was very little but thought I would be better off sticking to the recipe.

On the plus side, the falafel texture was perfect. (Hummus was too heavy and thick and grainy)

Shenshen

If you want to limit the salt, make sure to add enough lemon juice (salty and sour can be nearly indistinguishable to people, and both will tickle out more flavours).

patsypantaloni

wrote:

(Hummus was too heavy and thick and grainy)

my preference is for a smooth hummus made with blended chickpeas and then equal quantities of tahini and water to give the right consistency (seasoned with lemon juice, garlic paste, cumin, coriander and chilli powder) plus salt and pepper of course

Alun

I've seen recipes where people claim you can make a smoother hummus by peeling (yes, peeling!) the chickpeas first! Life's too short for that kind of carry-on.

Alun

Alun wrote: »

I've seen recipes where people claim you can make a smoother hummus by peeling (yes, peeling!) the chickpeas first! Life's too short for that kind of carry-on.

I peel chickpeas for my hummus. It's vastly improved. It takes me 12 minutes to peel a can of chickpeas at my leisure. I usually do it in front of the telly.

Tree

I just boil yellow split peas for smooth hummous. Takes longer than peeling but it's fairly handsoff And you've got reserved liquid to thin the hummous if you need

Whispered

You use split peas instead of chickpeas? How does that taste?

I was considering trying it with butter beans. Love the texture.

Lovely Bloke

butter beans also have a thick-ish skin tough, so will also feel grainy after blending.

How old are your ground cumin and coriander? Spices lose flavour over time, so while one tsp of fresh ground spices will impart good flavours, if they've been sitting in the press for a couple of years they may just not be up to the task any more.

Tom Dunne

I find if you leave the hummus for a few hours/overnight, the flavour really comes out. Make sure to cover it tightly, though.

Whispered

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

butter beans also have a thick-ish skin tough, so will also feel grainy after blending.

How old are your ground cumin and coriander? Spices lose flavour over time, so while one tsp of fresh ground spices will impart good flavours, if they've been sitting in the press for a couple of years they may just not be up to the task any more.

Good point. They could be up to a year old.

I loaded a portion with salt and it made a huge difference. Pity.

duploelabs

If you're looking at reducing the salt but keeping the flavour try enhancing the umami. It's a common error when seasoning that people think that a dish needs salt when it actually needs Umami, which is the savoury flavour most prominent in parmesan cheese, soy sauce, roast red meat (think of the sticky stuff at the bottom of your roasting tray when you roast beef or chicken). In your case with your flavourless hummus, try adding more garlic but to avoid the astringent nature of raw garlic, roast it first. The roast garlic will enhance the umami and give your hummus a depth of flavour and feel 'broader' on your palate. So say your recipe calls for a bulb of garlic, just break it in half, use one half as you would normally, but the other half just drizzle with olive oil and roast in the oven for 20 mins at 170 and then squeeze the resultant goo from the garlic cloves in to your hummus. Boom

quaalude

Alun wrote: »

I've seen recipes where people claim you can make a smoother hummus by peeling (yes, peeling!) the chickpeas first! Life's too short for that kind of carry-on.

I've been making hummus for donkey's years and I read this (on boards!) and got all excited - but to me, peeling made no difference at all.

One thing I've found does make a difference is which chickpeas you use.

The Tesco Organic ones in the cardboard box are the best:

they're 99 cents, have no salt added and have a nice, soft texture.

Second best are Batchelors.

Tesco canned chickpeas are small and hard, and make tasteless hummus.

Tree

Whispered wrote: »

You use split peas instead of chickpeas? How does that taste?

I was considering trying it with butter beans. Love the texture.

Tastes fine. I use chana dal too, which is actual split dried hulled chickpeas, but you can get the yellow peas in Tesco. Use them for falalfel too.

jam_mac_jam

Did you use dried chickpeas?I find they taste better that way. It could also be the recipe you used wasn't good and you didn't do anything wrong. I like this guys site http://humus101.com/EN/2006/10/14/hummus-recipe/. He also has baba gaunoush and other middle eastern recipes.

The hummus might not have enough tahinni if it was bland. Lemon juice can be nice in it too. I