My favourite little Persian snackery is Berenjak restaurant in Soho. It’s always busy and one can always eat well there. The other week I ordered a few different bits including their black chickpea hummus which is amazing and makes a delicious vegetarian substitute for chicken liver parfait in my eyes. I’ve recreated it here. Dried black chickpeas (kala chana) require pre-soaking and cooking; use tinned for a quicker fix. It’s important to use a good food processor or liquidiser for this to produce a hummus that’s light and fluffy. I’ve served it with roasted heritage carrots but any bread or vegetable would work.

Timings

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 1-1½ hours

Serves

 4-6

Ingredients

  • 100g dried black chickpeas (kala chana), soaked for 24 hours
  • ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 4 garlic cloves, grated
  • ½ tsp paprika
  • ½ tsp ground cumin
  • 80g black tahini, or as needed
  • 100ml rapeseed oil, plus a little more to drizzle on top
  • Black and white sesame seeds, to serve

Method

  1. Rinse the soaked chickpeas and put them in a saucepan with about three times their amount of water, a teaspoon of salt and the bicarbonate of soda. 
  2. Bring to the boil and simmer gently with a lid on for about an hour until the beans are really soft; this could take up to an hour and a half. 
  3. Once the chickpeas are soft, drain them over a bowl to catch the cooking water.
  4. Put the chickpeas in food processor or liquidiser with the garlic, paprika, cumin, black tahini, rapeseed oil and about 120ml of the cooking water. Blend until smooth, scraping down the sides now and then.
  5. Taste and season as you go, and add more cooking water and even a little more tahini if needed to produce a light and very smooth mixture. 
  6. Serve sprinkled with black and white sesame seeds, alongside your choice of things to dip.

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