Pomegranate Humus with Spicy Sausage
Somer Sivrioglu is from Turkey, but his restaurant’s most popular dish, humus, isn’t! So in order to satisfy his clienteles love of both this Arabic staple and Somer’s signature Turkish cuisine he had to make some changes. Having tried both Somer’s humus and the one we made following his recipe, we can confirm that it is definitely a change for the better.
Ingredients (Serves 4)
- 200g dried chickpeas
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 2 garlic cloves
- 60ml lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon of pomegranate molasses
- 1 tablespoon of capsicum paste
- 4 tablespoons of tahini (available in store)
- 125ml olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon of paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1 small cucumber
- 1/2 small red onion
- 1/2 red capsicum
- 100g chorizo (available in store
- 2 slices of day old sandwich bread
Put the chickpeas in a saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil over high heat. Boil for 1 minute and then strain. Put the chickpeas in a bowl with bicarbonate of soda, cover with water and soak overnight.
Strain the chickpeas and rinse under cold running water for 5 minutes. Transfer to a saucepan, cover with plenty of water, and bring to the boil over medium heat. Cook for 1.5 hours until the chickpeas are soft enough to mash with your fingers. Put the cooked chickpeas in a food processor and blend into a smooth paste. Finely crush the garlic and stir into the chickpea paste. Add the lemon juice, pomegranate molasses, capsicum paste, tahini, salt, olive oil and paprika and blend into a smooth purée. Spoon the humus into a bowl.
Peel the cucumber and finely chop. Finely chop the onion. Slice the red capsicum, remove the seeds and stalk, and finely chop. Chop the chorizo very finely. Chop the day old bread into small cubes.
Put the chorizo in a small frying pan over low heat and bring to a simmer, then cook until the fat begins to sizzle and emerge. Add the bread cubes and capsicum, and cook for 2 minutes. Remove the chorizo, bread and capsicum from the pan and mix with the cucumber and red onion.
Using a spoon, swirl the humus so it looks like a whirlpool, and then scatter the chorizo mixture into the swirls. Serve the bowl of humus with grilled pide or pita crisps.
This recipe is an excerpt from the recipe book Anatolia by Somer Sivrioglu and has been reposted with the permission of Murdoch Books. Available in store now. RRP $79.95