Hummus

1. the day before preparing hummus, pour cold water over the chickpeas with a teaspoon of soda, there should be at least twice as much water as the chickpeas. Leave it overnight.

2. the next day, drain and rinse the chickpeas. Pour in plenty of fresh water, add a teaspoon of soda and boil. Boil for about 40 minutes or until a single chickpea seed can easily be crushed in your fingers and is buttery inside - it must not be white and dry inside. If the chickpeas are not cooked enough, the hummus will be a flop.

3. Drain the cooked chickpeas and rinse them thoroughly. Transfer to a blender container, add tahina, salt, lemon juice, garlic and blend everything to a very smooth paste. On an ordinary home blender it takes about 2-3 minutes - it is ready when the paste is velvety and there are no lumps.

4. to the thick chickpea paste, slowly add ice-cold water all the time blending. This is the most pleasant moment of the whole process - suddenly the hummus changes color and acquires a pleasant velvety consistency. Grind the hummus for another 2-3 minutes or until the water perfectly blends with the paste and the whole thing turns into a light, smooth cream.

5. transfer the finished hummus to a bowl and sprinkle with your favorite toppings Tips: The chickpeas for hummus must be very soft, otherwise the hummus will be watery and lumpy - so you can't substitute cooked chickpeas for those from a can. To prepare hummus, it is best to use a large bowl and a hand blender - a cup blender may not be able to cope with the thick and hard mass.