I saw this idea made by Michel Roux Jr. in his new TV show called Hidden Restaurants. I thought it’s a fab idea, so I made my own recipe. He didn’t mention any quantities, so I’ve adapted and I’ve added lots of carrots for an extra healthy kick. I like houmous and I like the one with all sort of different flavours like Asparagus houmous, Houmous with sundried tomatoes and even Baked Houmous.

The quantities I’ve used are enough for 3 main portions or 2 main portions and a dip for later. My husband and I eat houmous as a main and I always do big portions. Use only a forth of the ingredients if you want to make only a small batch, as a dip.

Ingredients for Carrot houmous:

– 200g dried chickpeas
– 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
– 500g carrots
– 2 spoons of oil
– 75g tahini
– 3 cloves of garlic
– 6-8 spoons of lemon juice
– 1 tsp cumin
– 2 tsp sea salt
– 1/2 tsp ground coriander
– 1/2 tsp coriander leaves
– 1/2 tsp dried garlic
– white pepper

If you use, like me, dried chickpeas, soak them overnight with half of teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda. In the morning, rinse the chickpeas and boil them in fresh water with half of teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda.

While the chickpeas are boiling, wash and cut the carrots in half. Pour the oil on top of them and bake them for 40-50 minutes at 200C or 180C fan. Check with a fork if the carrots are baked and leave them for a bit longer if it’s necessary.

When the chickpeas are boiled and the carrots are baked, put them all in the food processor and blitz them. Add all the other ingredients and blitz them again. Taste and add a bit more spices if you think it’s needed. If the houmous is not smooth enough, add plain water. This time I’ve added almost half of glass of water, so the houmous was the right consistency.

When you are happy with the houmous, you can served it. This time I’ve served the houmous with a mix of olives with fresh garlic and herbs in oil and sunflower seeds baked with spices.

The recipe is vegan and very healthy. Using so many carrots for this dish means that it’s a fab way to hide a lot of goodness for fussy eaters or for those not very keen on carrots (like my husband and I). The taste of carrots is only noticeable and I really enjoyed this dish.

Do you like houmous with different flavours? Which one is your favourite?