Falafel Hummus

Brace yourself, folks: today you about to experience something the internet has never experienced before:

Falafel-flavoured hummus! Okay, I can’t be 100% certain that this has never appeared on the internet before, but my various efforts at Googling (and even Binging for god’s sake (I was getting paranoid)) “falafel hummus”, though turning up many hits, only loaded pages featuring falafel with hummus and the like. As far as I can tell, no one on the internet has yet thought to create and share a falafel-flavoured hummus recipe.

Which is ridiculous, first of all, because falafel and hummus are both totally delicious, and two delicious things in one is always a good idea; second of all, because falafel and hummus even come from the same cuisine, which makes my immediately preceding claim a little less ridiculous; and third and most importantly, because falafel is pretty much hummus already, really just a mere tahini scoop and olive oil splash away.

A bit of backstory: I got the idea for falafel hummus last week while I trying out Oh She Glows’ recent falafel recipe. That didn’t turn out so well, unfortunately (just a problem with getting the mixture to cohere, which was my fault, something with my breadcrumbs I think), but it did make me remark on how similar making falafel is to making hummus, at least at the start before you get to frying. Both dishes start from a chickpea base; falafel is just distinguished by a few extra ingredients (cilantro, parsley, and onion) and a drier texture (more crumbly than smooth). Thus I got to thinking: I could probably make a delicious and unique hummus using the very same falafel recipe I was working with, just by making a few slight modifications: namely, by removing the binders (breadcrumbs and ground flax seeds), including some hummus standards (tahini, olive oil, and water), and adding those extra falafel flavours. And I was right.

The result was easily one of the best hummuses I’ve ever made, and one I’m sure I’ll be repeating it again very soon. The recipe follows the amounts from Oh She Glows’ falafel recipe very closely, so thanks again to Angela for the inspiration. And be sure to refer to my classic hummus guide if you need some basic hummus-making pointers. Enjoy!

Falafel Hummus
(makes about 3 cups)

Ingredients

• 2 cups chickpeas, cooked
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• half a small red onion, chopped
• ¼ cup tightly packed fresh cilantro
• ¼ cup tightly packed fresh flat-leaf parsley
• juice and zest of one lemon
• ⅓ cup tahini
• 6 tbsp olive oil
• 6 tbsp reserved chickpea liquid or water
• ½ tsp cumin
• ½ tsp salt
• pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
• the other half of your small red onion, minced (optional; see step 2 below)

Instructions

1. Place all ingredients except the other half of your red onion (if using) in a food processor, and whip everything together. You may not want to add in all the olive oil and reserved chickpea liquid/water from the very start; instead, add it in gradually as you pulse. If the mixture is still looking too thick after all the liquids have been added, add more reserved chickpea liquid/water a little at a time until you reach your desired consistency.
2. Scoop hummus out into a bowl. If using the other half of your red onion, mix this in now with a spoon. (I feel that this touch makes the mixture even more reminiscent of falafel, but this addition is only recommended if you enjoy the taste of raw onions (as I do).)
3. Garnish with parsley if you’re being fancy, or not if you’re being lazy.

And that’s all there is to it! Thanks for joining me for this little milestone of internet culinary history. Now go off and make some falafel hummus for yourself and spread the word!

Until we eat again,

Willie