Hummus (also hommos, hamos, houmous, hommus, hummous, humus, homous, arabic حُمُّص‎) is a dip made of ground chickpeas, sesame tahini, lemon juice, and garlic.

In Arabic the word hummus is used to describe the dish or just chickpeas on their own. The full name of the dish is hummus bi tahina (Arabic: حُمُّص بطحينة‎)  chickpeas with tahini.

Hummus is popular in various local forms throughout the Middle Eastern world where it probably originated from. It is served as a Mezza with the main dish.
 Ingredients

• 1 cup dry chickpeas
• water
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Tahini (T’hina) and water, to make a paste; fresh lemon juice can be substituted for some of the water [do not use preserved lemon juice!]
• Salt

Procedure

Note that steps 1-3 can be skipped if you buy a can of an already cooked chickpeas.

1. In a large pot, add the chick peas, 2.5 cups of water, and baking soda.Leave to soak for 6-12 hours.
2. Rinse.
3. Add the rinsed peas to 3 cups of water, the garlic and one teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil. After about 45 minutes, they should swell enough for their skins to come off. Give it a stir, and use a sieve spoon to remove as much of the skins as you can from the water.
4. Cover the pot and continue cooking for about 2 hours, or until they almost dissolve to a paste.
5. Pour out the water [option: some can be reserved to add later, for extra flavor].
6. Mash the peas by pressing them through a pasta sieve. DO NOT use a food processor!
7. Let it cool for 10 minutes.
8. Add tahini and water until you get the right consistency.
9. Some cooks add tahini concentrate and lemon juice, instead of diluted tahini.
10. Serve with olive oil, onions, and mint leaves