When I lived in the US, I was addicted to hummus. I would go through a tub a week, eating it with pita, raw vegetables, and (secret’s out!) even plain rice if the cupboards were empty. I would make long treks from West Harlem to Atlantic Ave in Brooklyn just for hummus and pita from Sahadi’s. Not surprisingly, I went through major withdrawal while living in China. Not even the Western import stores had the mass-produced tubs I took for granted at Whole Foods or even Safeway. And since Beijing’s Middle Eastern population is tiny, with the majority working at embassies, not opening restaurants, I could forget about any sort of mezze platters or shawarmas whenever the mood stuck.
So I was ecstatic to finally find tahini at Sanyuanli, the local market that rivals the import stores in diversity, without the exhorbitant prices. The guy who runs the stall sells fresh sesame oil and sesame paste, but unlike his rivals around town, was smart enough to realize realize, hey, the foreigners all want this thing called tahini. Thomas Friedman would be proud.
Since I found the tahini guy I have been making all sorts of hummus at home. Regular, extra lemon, carrot. And since pumpkin is everywhere right now and ridiculously cheap, I also whipped up a batch of pumpkin hummus. In addition to the regular hummus ingredients, I roasted small pieces of pumpkin, and at the same time roasted the pumpkin seeds, which would later be used as garnish instead of pine nuts.
Since imported pita chips cost at least $6 US here, I made my own with fresh Chinese pancakes (like scallion pancakes, without the scallions.) On my street there are at least two stands that sell a big pancake sheets for about 60 cents; quite economical! I just baked the pancakes for about 10 minutes per side, broke them up, and got the requisite "pita chips" for dipping.
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Pumpkin Hummus
1 cup chopped pumpkin
1 small handful fresh pumpkin seeds
16-oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus additional for drizzling
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
In a glass baking dish, roast pumpkins at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour, or until soft. You may also roast the pumpkin seeds at the same time, then set aside.
In a food processor or blender, combine roasted pumpkin, chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, water, and olive oil. Process until smooth, then add sugar and salt. Adjust saltiness to your taste.
Dish out into serving bowl, drizzle with additional olive oil, and garnish with toasted pumpkin seeds. Serve with pita chips or raw vegetables like baby carrots or cherry tomatoes.
{ 33 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve been dying to try some new pumpkin recipes, and this is timely, because it’s still pretty warm in California so stews and soups just aren’t cutting it quite yet. This is perfect!!! I’ll let you know how mine comes out.
Great minds obviously think alike! I just made pumpkin hummus and posted about it. Gotta love that creamy pumpkin taste mixed with the nuttiness and tang of the hummus ingredients. Yum!
I eat hummus with a spoon, that’s all. I wonder if you could grind the pumpkin seeds in place of tahini? Either way this sounds like an interesting change and very tasty.
Fuji Mama – I love the photos from the pumpkin patch on your site!
Kristen – Yup, this is definitely good for those early fall, still-warm-enough-for-eating-outdoors, type of snack.
Amber – Hmm that’s an interesting take. I do think tahini is an essential part of hummus though. Maybe you can add ground pumpkin seeds in addition to tahini. My local Carrefour actually sells pumpkin flour, though I’m not sure if that’s made with all seeds.
Wow! I love this! Never thought to use pumpkin in hummus, but it looks great!
Mmmm…pumpkin hummus is perfect for the season.
That looks beautiful. You know it’s a good hummus when there’s oily puddles on the top. We *live* on hummus at home. It was the first thing we bought when we got back after our year away. I never found the Beijing ones up to scratch though I heard there was a hummus/falafel bar somewhere which I never found.
Your recipe reminds me of one we learned on a cooking course in Bangkok, apparently an Isaan dish. If I remember right, it was pumpkin, cashew nuts, sesame seeds, light soy sauce, chilli, sugar and coriander, all mushed together in a pestle and mortar. Check it out!
What a great idea! We love hummus but with the addition of the roasted pumpkin, well don’t that just beat all!
I love hummus and make it often – I will try this for sure!
Great minds think alike :)
I made something very similar last month, but used roasted butternut squash.
As someone who lives a short bus-ride from Sahadi’s, I want to know…what makes their hummus so superb? Never tried it.
So, I’m going to be the first to ask, apparently…
Can you use canned pumpkin? I know I know it won’t be as good, and probably will not have a nice roasted-type flavor, but I have some leftover to use up and this sounds awesome. Plus, I’m lazy. ;)
I’m going to try it anyway, and will post back the results.
I thought the same thing about the canned pumpkin!
Michele – Maybe it’s the lack of preservatives. I can’t keep Sahadi’s hummus in my fridge for longer than 4 or 5 days before it starts to smell odd, but some of those supermarket tubs will still be good after I come back from a two-week trip.
ardie – I didn’t try it with canned pumpkin, but I’m interested in seeing your results! You would probably not need the sugar.
What is hummus? I haven’t tried that in my life before? Is it a maxican food? I had tried pumpkin soup and mash potato but not this. I wonder where can I find that in my country?
Hi all,
I tried it, and it turned out great! I ended up using about a whole cup of pumpkin (just eyballed it), so there was a lot of hummus in the end. I couldn’t find tahini so I toasted sesame seeds and put them in first to pulverize them, and used about a tablespoon extra of olive oil. And, instead of water I used the liquid from the can of chickpeas. Dunno if that made a difference or not. The texture was perfect.
I’ve never made hummus before so I went by instinct and I think it turned out well. I put a little nutmeg and cinnamon on a spoonful and that was good, but i’m not sure if spices would be good in the whole batch.
Thanks for all the good recipes, will definitely try some more :)
~Ardie
I’m very inspired by this amazing dish. Cooking pumpkin in different dishes is always a challenge to me, but your hummus is a winner for sure! I look forward to trying it at a future dinner party. Thank you so much, I’m so excited about this one!
Hey Diana,
I just wanted to let you know that Beijing has hummus–and it’s good hummus. On Sanlitun Beijie, there is Dareen coffee, which does a few middle eastern dishes in addition to the lovely coffee.
However, the best hummus and middle eastern food to be had here is at Biteapitta on Nvrenjie’s Super Bar Street. It is run by Israelis and quite authentic. The labneh and hummus is to die for. Nearby is Dini’s, a kosher restaurant, but I’ve never been there so I can’t tell you if they have hummus.
Mellissa – Ooh thanks for the heads-up. I’ll have to check out Dareen and Biteapitta. I had heard about the latter before and wasn’t sure how it would be, but seems like it’s worth a shot!
Ardie – Nice! Thanks for the report. Good to know canned pumpkin is a good tested option for when I’m too lazy to roast anything.
Hey there, I guess in Shanghai we’re lucky enough to find decent Middle East food Restaurants in town and we even can find tahini and hummus in supermarkets!
Either way I love hummus in just about everything and always prefer to make it myself. The pumpkin addition sounds amazingly good. I will try it this afternoon.
saludos desde shanghai!
Yum!! Can you use canned pumpkin in this recipe? And are the seeds absolutely necessary?
Hillary – You can definitely try using canned pumpkin, though I always prefer the fragrance of freshly roasted pumpkin. The seeds aren’t necessary but just make great garnishes. Plus, I like to snack on them. :)
ahhh . .man. .I was just in Beijing. .had I seen this before, I could have brought tahini back with me to Dalian …where there is no middle eastern food to be found. ..where is this market you refer to?. .so. that next trip I can find it?. .
thanks. .
Hey Mate,
Where in Sanyuanli market did you find tahini? Do you remember the shop no. or something?
Please let me know your help is appreciated.
Thanks
J
J -I don’t remember the exact stall #, but it was towards the middle of the market, on the right side if you’re walking in from the main entrance. They had jars of two or three sizes displayed out on the counter. Of course, the last time I was at Sanyuanli was two years ago, and knowing Beijing, many things could have changed.
Omg… I’m so happy to see this post. I’m currently working in Beijing and have been looking for tahini everywhere! Thanks so much for your recipes, I’ve been trying to cook more and this is a great resource. Are you living in Beijing now?
Sorry, forgot to ask… Where exactly in Sanyuanli is this?
Hi Shannon – The stall was in the middle of the market on the right side if you’re walking in from the main entrance. Unfortunately I don’t remember the exact stall number. There were jars displayed on the counter. The last time I was there was over 2 years ago, so the stall could have moved to another place in the market or even moved. Hope this helped a little!