I eat a lot of hummus, as it is low in fat, high in fiber and protien (if you get the types not made with a lot of oil.)
Fantastic Foods makes a passable instant version, but for me it is too high in sodium.

I worked on a recipe the past week, and came up with an acceptable version. I do use a food processor, as I quadrupled the recipe in the last making (this afternoon).


Homemade Hummus:

At home process in a blender or food processor till smooth:
1 15 ounce can Garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
2 Tbl water or lemon juice
1/4 tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/8 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp granulated garlic
salt to taste if desired

Spread on parchment lined dehydrator trays, dry till dry. This takes about 3-5 hours, depending on humidity. 135* As it dries, break up the cracking hummus, and powder it up, this helps speed up the drying. It is dry, well, when dry.
When dry, crumble into a powder and split evenly into two sandwich bags. Each bag will need about 1/2 cup of cold water. It rehydrates almost instantly. If desired, add a tsp or two of olive oil when rehydrating.
Each bag serves 1. Excellent in mini pita bread or on tortillas.
(Notes: I find that when rehydrating, use same amount water as mix. Then add more if too stiff. Cold water works just fine. Warm is not needed.)
Note 2: Adding a jar of drained roasted red peppers is excellent.
Note 3: Eden Organics makes excellent garbanzo beans that are very low sodium. Otherwise, I use heavily rinsed Trader Joe organic ones.

Sarah -

Thanks for the recipe. I'm going to be doing some deyhdrating for a camping trip this weekend and I'll give this recipe a try.

Hi Sam,

If you are going to dry it anyway why not use fresh minced garlic instead of granulated? It sure would taste better with fresh garlic even after you dry and rehydrate it.

For me, I like the dried garlic (it is freeze dried). It doesn't have the raw bite of fresh garlic. A bit mellower.

the fresh garlic mellows/sweetens when it dries and is probably less expensive/processed too - anyway just my take on it - I think using fresh ingredients where and whenever possible makes for a better end product. Herbs and spices fall into this as well.

Edited by Laurie_Ann on 12/04/2006 06:08:38 MST.

Granulated garlic and dried minced garlic are actually very affordable options. Many times cheaper than fresh and besides the chance of going stale, it doesn't go bad unless stored wrong. It works well with recipes that need to be stored. Fresh garlic, for me, if it isn't cooked outright, gives me bad heartburn. And garlic heartburn is not pleasant!
If you haven't tried dried minced garlic, get some, it is fantastic. It rehydrates back almost instantly to fresh like quality.

actually much of the time I have 10 or 12 bunches of fresh garlic here and I often roast and then dry it (better than it going bad) - so that product is probably somewhat similar to what you are buying

I don't get heartburn (fortunately) and I still find that fresh does taste a little nicer - just my take on it

Same goes for lemon zest - I can buy it already dried but using it fresh and then drying it myself imparts a more interesting flavor

Edited by Laurie_Ann on 12/04/2006 09:54:00 MST.