Recently we changed our Supperclub starters to sharing platters and they’ve been going down a storm – especially the hummus topped with lamb and sumac, so I promised to share the recipe. I need to credit Silvena Rowe’s cook book ‘Purple Citrus & Sweet Perfume’ – which inspired us. This is a life-changing hummus recipe, promise! The ice cubes help to produce an almost whipped cream-like light texture.

The secret to a good hummus is the quality of the chickpeas. Too often in the UK we have really old dried ones that no one else wants or rely on a tin. I bought dried chickpeas from Maghreb, the Moroccan butchers shop on Hoe Street, Walthamstow. They recommended that the best ones in stock were from a company called Garrido – £2.49 for 1kg.

Hummus with lamb & sumac

You need:

500g dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
4 ice cubes
3 tbsp tahini (sesame seed paste)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
juice of 1 -2 lemons

Method:

Put the chickpeas into a large bowl, cover with plenty of cold water and leave to soak overnight. Alternatively, put the chickpeas into a large pan and cover with water, bring them to the boil, then take the pan off the heat and leave them to soak for an hour.

Drain the chickpeas and rinse thoroughly. Put them into a large pan and cover with fresh cold water. Bring to the boil and cook for 10 minutes to kill off any toxins. Reduce the heat and simmer until the chickpeas are soft but not mushy. The skins will float to the surface so skim them off the top of the water when it builds up. It will take about an hour depending on the quality of the chickpeas for them to cook. Or we have found recently that soaked chickpeas will cook in a pressure cooker in about 20 minutes.

Drain and cool the chickpeas for a few minutes. Pop them into a food processor and blend them adding the ice cubes one at a time. This is pure magic – as you blend them you will slowly see the chickpea paste get paler and look almost like whipped cream.

Remove the paste from the food processor and place in a large bowl. Add the tahini, crushed garlic and juice of 1 – 2 lemons, depending on how juicy they are, and season with salt to taste.

For the lamb topping:

100g lean diced lamb
3 tsp ground sumac
1 tbsp olive oil

Chop the lamb into small cubes. Add 2 tsp of sumac and a sprinkle of salt and rub into the meat. The sumac has a warm, lemony flavour. Heat the olive oil in a small frying pan and gently fry the lamb cubes until crispy. For a veggie alternative, reserve a handful of the whole cooked chickpeas and gently fry with a roughly chopped red onion and the sumac until caramelised.

To serve put the hummus into a large pretty bowl, top with the hot lamb cubes, a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle over the final teaspoon of sumac.