Do you peel garbanzo beans for hummus?

Question

If using garbanzo beans to make hummus, should you peel them beforehand?

Answer 1

There are three considerations for deciding whether to skin them or not.

• Do you like the texture/flavour with the skins on
• Do you, or those eating the hummus have dietary reasons to avoid the skins
• How much do you want to make a culturally/regionally 'accurate' dish.

I, for example, like the texture that the skins add to hummus, but I only mash my chickpeas very roughly with a fork and find the ultra smooth variants texturally unpleasant.

Some people use a food processor to make hummus, which allows for quite a smooth product with the skins still, in though not as silky smooth as with them removed, the flavour may be marginally different.

For some people there will be dietary reasons for using peeled chickpeas, for instance Crohn's' Disease sufferers may tolerate hummus without skins better than with.

More traditionally, a silky smooth texture is prized for hummus and that is achieved by using only the meat of the beans.

What most people get wrong about making hummus By Maureen Abood

The most important thing to note about chickpeas is that they have translucent skins. Those skins are the cause of grainy hummus, and they dampen flavor. They have to go.

So essentially, your hummus, your kitchen, your choice.