HELP Please,hummus to bitter to eat.

[glcoop60]

I made hummus today from Alissa's Book. I sprouted the chick peas for three days. They had pretty long tails and soft. I expected the hummus to have that raw bean taste. Over all it tastes pretty good except it has a bitter after taste. The tahini I used is a raw tahini I got from a local market. It was really bitter so I used some agave to sweeten it a bit.

My daughter and I really like this hummus but can't take the bitterness.:(

Can anyone please help with some suggestions to get rid of that biter flavor?

Thanks in advance, I'll try anything.

Coop

[mattsonfamily]

I found that "soaking" my chick peas overnite solved the problem of being bitter.

I use the recipe from thegardendiet.com and just love it. I have made a few changes to it to make it my own.

Also, it does make a difference on how fresh your dried peas are.

Hope this helps.

Mindi

[VeggieMel]

A lady I know makes hummus by soaking her chickpeas 24 hours before using them, and then adding olive oil, lemon, red bell pepper and cilantro. I'm soaking my chickpeas tonight so I can make some tomorrow. I'll let you know how it turns out!

[faeauriel]

I have the same problem. Actually, I didn't even go forward with the hummus after tasting the chickpeas. So are the rest of you saying NOT to sprout them and just to soak them for 24 hours? If I do that will they be soft enough to make into a hummus? This whole bean sprouting thing has me perplexed because they keep coming out tasting like NOTHING I would want in my hummus... bitter, sprouty, etc. More help and clarification please :)

[Beckla]

A LOT of people have said the same. To some, chickpeas just don't taste good raw. I'm included in that bunch. I make my "hummus" with cashews instead... find that it tastes and has the consistency like I'm used to. I've seen other recipes that use zucchini. Never tried that.

[fuzzywater]

I make the zucchini version, which is delicious! One of my friends tried it and didn't realize that it wasn't regular cooked hummus! There is a zucchini version in Alissa's book as well. :)

[Frecs]

I'm one of the ones that likes sprouted garbanzo bean (aka chickpea) hummus. But, I don't let the beans develop long sprouts...I just let the sprout appear and then make the hummus. Same with adzuki beans.

The issue of eating sprouted beans fascinates me because I find sprouted soybeans bitter but my mother does not. Some of ya'll find sprouted garbanzos bitter but I don't. To quote a famous Vulcan, "fascinating".

[tvillemom]

I have also read somewhere that soaking the beans, and letting them just barely sprout will make them soft, but DON'T let them develop LONG tails! They become bitter.
I have made zuchinni hummus before and LOVE it...I think I will try it with cashews, but I'm trying to stay "light" and away from SO MANY nuts!
Good luck next time. Live and learn!
Wendi

[glcoop60]

I have also read somewhere that soaking the beans, and letting them just barely sprout will make them soft, but DON'T let them develop LONG tails! They become bitter.
I have made zuchinni hummus before and LOVE it...I think I will try it with cashews, but I'm trying to stay "light" and away from SO MANY nuts!
Good luck next time. Live and learn!
Wendi

Thanks for all the advise. I did sprout them until they had long tails. I guess along with the somewhat bitter tahini thats what I get.

Thanks to all I'll try again.

[VeggieMel]

I said I'd follow up on the recipe I had for hummus which was chickpeas, olive oil, lemon and cilantro and bell pepper. I made the basic recipe of chickpeas, olive oil and lemon juice after soaking my chickpeas for 24 hours. Yuck. The recipe is so plain. It didn't taste good at all!!

[Tk2dsky]

I just tried a hummus recipe that uses zucchini instead of chickpeas. It was delicious and not bitter at all ( even though the tahini is bitter). Try your hummus recipe, just replace it with an equal amount of peeled raw zucchini.

[VeggieMel]

Thanks for the tip! I'll try that soon.

[glcoop60]

I said I'd follow up on the recipe I had for hummus which was chickpeas, olive oil, lemon and cilantro and bell pepper. I made the basic recipe of chickpeas, olive oil and lemon juice after soaking my chickpeas for 24 hours. Yuck. The recipe is so plain. It didn't taste good at all!!

It's funny, mine tasted good but the bitter aftertaste kind of killed the joy.

[greenfeline]

I agree with not letting the chickpeas sprout too long. The first time I made the hummus it was chalky and gross. The second time I only sprouted for two days and it was great!! I tried the zucchini hummus too, which is delicious.