I have been making hummus for a few years now. Not religiously. I would still buy Sabra or Trader Joe’s hummus on the regular and even wondered how I could get my hummus to taste as good as theirs.

Until now.

I am such a convert to making hummus at home after trying Zahav’s method for making it that I balk at buying brand-name hummus when I go to the supermarket now.

Hummus may well be what put Zahav, an Israeli restaurant in Philadelphia, on the map. It’s airy, effervescent and unbelievably creamy. Tahini is the main character, lemon, garlic and cumin play starring roles, and the chickpeas, well, they provide the structure. Your hummus shouldn’t taste like chickpeas.

It all begins with great tahini, also called tehina. Some brands are better than others and I especially like Soom tahini or the Krinos variety. This may seem like an excessive amount of work for hummus, but your every effort will be rewarded.

The recipe comes from Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking by Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook. It’s a gem and one of my favorite cookbooks.

Zahav Hummus

1 15-ounce can chickpeas
1 1/2 cups Zahav’s basic tehina (see below)
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
Paprika
Chopped fresh parsley
Olive oil, for drizzling

Combine chickpeas, tehina, salt and cumin in a food processor. Puree the hummus for several minutes, until it is smooth and oh-so-creamy. Continue to puree. And puree. The longer you puree the hummus the fluffier and more cloud-like it becomes.

To serve, spread hummus in a shallow bowl, dust with paprika and sprinkle with parsley if you like. Drizzle generously with olive oil and serve with the fluffiest pita bread you can find.

Basic Tehina

1 head garlic
3/4 cup lemon juice (about three lemons)
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 cups tahini
1/2 teaspoon cumin
About 1 1/2 cups ice water

Break up the head of garlic with your hands and drop – skins and all – into a blender. Add lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt. Blend on high for a few seconds until you have a coarse puree. Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes to let the garlic mellow.

Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer set over a large mixing bowl, pressing the solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard the solids. Add the tahini along with cumin and 1 teaspoon of the salt.

Whisk mixture together until smooth (or use a hand mixer or food processor), adding ice water, a few tablespoons at a time, to thin it out. This sauce will lightened in color as you mix and will look grainy before it looks smooth. When the tahini seizes up or tightens, keep adding ice water, bit by bit (about 1 1/2 cups in total), whisking energetically until you have a perfectly smooth, creamy and thick sauce.

Taste and add up to 1 1/2 teaspoons more salt and cumin if you like. If you’re not using the sauce immediately, whisk in a few tablespoons of ice water to loosen it before refrigerating. The tehina sauce will keep a week refrigerated, or it can be frozen for up to a month.

If not using the tehina for hummus, consider using it to dress roasted vegetables. That’s what I’m doing here with these roasted radishes.