Hummus recipe from Sifr restaurant in River North

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A wildly popular appetizer is on the menu Thursday as we cook up a storm with Sifr, the Middle Eastern restaurant that just opened in River North.

Chef Sahil Sethiis helping Tracy make hummus!

Sifr is open for dinner every day of the week at 660 N Orleans.

For more information, visit www.sifrchicago.com.

Dried Chickpeas/ Garbanzo- 1 lbs or Canned Chickpeas drained- 1 lbs

Tahini Paste- 3.5 tbsp

Lemon Juice- 2.5 tbsp

Ice Cubes- cup

Peeled Garlic- 3 cloves

Extra Virgin Olive Oil- cup

Kosher Salt- 1 tbsp

Baking Soda- 1/s tsp (add while boiling dried chickpeas)

Dried Chickpeas/ Garbanzo

Soak dried chickpeas with 4 qt water in container overnight.

In a stock pot, add chickpeas with the water it was soaked in and add 3 qt more water for boiling along with salt and baking soda. Let it boil on a low gas mark till the chickpea is cooked and to test use a slotted spoon to pick a piece of boiled chickpea and press using the fingers and if mashes strain the chickpeas using a strainer. Let is cool down before blending.

Canned Chickpea Method

-Strain the canned chickpeas from the can and rinse it quickly under running water, let extra water drain out.

-Keep garlic peeled and all the ingredients weighed out.

-Use a food processor with blade attachment, add canned or boiled chickpeas, add in lemon juice, ice cubes, peeled garlic. Switch it on, let it blitz.

-Switch off the food processor after 1 minute or so, using a rubber spatula, scrape the sides of the bowl and add tahini paste and blitz again till it becomes a smooth paste.

-Pour the olive oil in and let it blitz making sure the hummus is not too hot if it does add in few more cubes of ice.

-Check for seasoning. Adjust salt if required.

-Transfer the hummus to a bowl of your choice, use the back of a serving spoon to spread hummus in the bowl, drizzle some extra virgin olive oil.

-Add sumac or zaatar on top for extra flavor or enjoy it with fresh pita or protein of your choice.