This classic Middle Eastern dish is a daily popular snack that can easily replace lunch. There are many places in Israel that only serve hummus. And it is he who is the main dish. Everything else is just to decorate the table: spicy salted vegetables, onions, spicy skhug seasoning, hot cakes. Falafel balls or ground beef fried with onions are spread on hummus, or pine nuts are added to it, sometimes only pine nuts are put, sometimes hot slightly stewed mushrooms and eggplants … The possibilities are practically unlimited. But the main thing is a plate of hummus, which is the highlight of the program.

INGREDIENTS

• 500 g chickpeas
• 5 tbsp. l. tahini pastes
• 4 cloves of garlic
• juice of 1 lemon
• extra virgin olive oil
• ground sweet or hot paprika
• cumin
• za’atar (optional)
• cilantro or parsley for garnish
• salt
• For filling
• 500 g ground beef
• 2 medium onions
• 50 g lamb fat
• 1 tbsp. l. black peppercorns

STEP-BY-STEP COOKING RECIPE
Step 1
Soak the chickpeas for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. Drain and place in a large saucepan. Fill with cold water so that the water covers the peas. Bring to a boil over medium heat and drain. Pour cold water over the peas again and bring to a boil, drain the water. Repeat this operation two more times.
Step 2
Pour the chickpeas with water and cook over very low heat so that the water barely boils. Add 1 clove of garlic. The peas should boil well so that the outer skins begin to lag behind, they should look crumbly, taste sweet, with a distinct nutty flavor. You will need 1.5-2 hours for this.
Step 3
Drain the broth from the finished chickpea into a separate bowl. Pour chickpeas with cold water, this operation will help to remove more skins from the peas. Separate the skins.
Step 4
Set aside 4-5 tbsp. l. chickpeas, and start chopping the rest of the peas with a crush, alternately adding the broth in which the peas were cooked and tahini to the puree. Tahini thickens upon contact with water, but if you add more broth, the puree will become liquid again. You can also pulverize hummus in a food processor.
Step 5
Peel and finely chop the garlic and add to the puree along with salt, lemon juice and olive oil. Hummus should become smooth, light beige, and non-liquid in consistency.
Step 6
Place a few spoons of hummus on a plate, season with spices as desired, garnish with whole peas and herbs. Then lay out the filling or simply drizzle with olive oil.
Step 7
For the filling, peel the onion and cut into thin half rings. Melt the fat in a deep saucepan and saute the onions until light golden brown. Add minced meat and stir with a fork. Fry until tender, 10 minutes, season with salt. Grind the black pepper in a mortar and season the minced meat.