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I would like to prepare my own instant hummus (dried, only add water) for backpacking. A commercial product is available, but I would prefer to start from scratch.

Normally, chickpea flour has to be cooked for around 3 minutes to make hummus, e.g. in this recipe.

I would like to avoid cooking the flour in a large amount of water, as dehydrating a paste is a big mess.

Is it possible to just moisten the flour with the right amount of water and then steam it, such that in the end it will still be mostly a powder and easy to dry?

guest
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    Will you be adding hot water when backpacking, or cold? I ask because a 3-minute cook time can be easily replicated by adding hot water, then placing in an [insulated pouch](https://trailcooking.com/store/fbc-cozies/). – csk Jul 23 '20 at 05:15
  • I would prefer just adding cold water, but could let it soak overnight. – guest Jul 23 '20 at 14:55

1 Answers1

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Raw chickpea flour is unpleasantly bitter, but it becomes delicious when dry roasted or fried in a little oil.

It takes some practice to achieve exactly the right degree of roastedness. You will notice while dry roasting that the flour starts to become aromatic, and then smells slightly over-roasted and rather suddenly turns light brown. I recommend roasting it until just before the colour change for this purpose. Stir constantly and break up lumps to roast evenly.

This pre-roasted flour will not need further cooking. To reconstitute you simply add a little water, mix, add more water, mix, and keep going until the consistency is what you want. You can immediately eat it, you can use cold water for this, and you do not need to cook it.

You can also lightly dry roast and grind sesame seeds, probably along with the chickpea flour. Avoid grinding sesame seeds alone too finely, as they will turn into tahini.

Presumably you have access to garlic powder.

A dry substitute for lemon juice could be sumac (a type of berry which is dried and powdered), as suggested by Chris H.

Zanna
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  • Interesting, I've never tried to use chickpea flour before. How would you reconstitute the flour when camping? Could you add water and wait, or would you have to cook it? – GdD Jul 23 '20 at 13:53
  • @GdD When I make hummus, I normally use dried chickpeas which I soak and then pressure-cook. But OP asks for a dehydrated version. I have made hummus from roasted chickpea flour a few times. To reconstitute you simply add a little water, mix, add more water, mix, and keep going until the consistency is what you want. You can immediately eat it, you can use cold water for this, and you do not need to cook it. But the flour must be roasted first - if it is raw it tastes horrible. – Zanna Jul 23 '20 at 14:15
  • That's useful info for campers @Zanna, worth editing and adding it in I think. – GdD Jul 23 '20 at 14:38
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    +1 I'll have to try this. I'm also interested in home made dehydrated camping food. Garlic powder will be required, but perhaps dried herbs too, even if not strictly traditional. – Chris H Jul 23 '20 at 15:04
  • This is a great out of the box idea. I can't wait to try this. Thank you! – guest Jul 23 '20 at 16:42
  • You are most welcome @guest I hope you enjoy it! – Zanna Jul 23 '20 at 17:10
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    @ChrisH I like to add either coriander or thyme. The latter goes amazingly with extra whole sesame seeds and chilli flakes imho – Zanna Jul 23 '20 at 17:12
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    @Zanna sumac would give the tanginess missing without lemon, and is traditional. Hot smoked paprika and a pinch of cumin also work well – Chris H Jul 23 '20 at 20:50
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    For lemon, you can substitute crystalized lemon juice, such as ReaLemon. It comes in small packets, each packet being equivalent to the juice of a lemon wedge. [This question](https://cooking.stackexchange.com/q/1291/85773) has some suggestions for tahini substitutions, such as grinding your own sesame seeds, or using peanut butter, which you can get in single-serve packets. Or you could pre-package a small amount of tahini in snack-sized plastic bag. – csk Jul 23 '20 at 22:39
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    @ChrisH that's a great idea - I had forgotten about sumac. – Zanna Jul 24 '20 at 02:45