As luck would have it, I happened upon a cooking article that solved the grainy texture mystery. It's the skins of the chickpeas that were causing the problem!
Anxious to see if this was really the case, I soaked some dried chickpeas overnight.
The next morning, the chickpeas were drained, placed in large pot, along with some smashed garlic cloves, and covered with water. Now here's an interesting tip to facilitate the removal of the skins: add about a teaspoon of baking soda into the cooking water.
Once the chickpeas are tender, reserve about a 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid, then drain the chickpeas.
Place the drained chickpeas in a large bowl and cover with cold water.
Now this next part is kinda' tedious, but worth the time and effort. Agitate the chickpeas (I just used my impeccably clean hands), and the skins will come off. Some will float to the top, but some will sink to the bottom of the bowl. Scoop those babies out, wherever they are, and discard.
After removing as many of the skins as possible, put the chickpeas and the garlic cloves, along with some salt, in the food processor and pulse a few times to start breaking them down.
Scrape down the bowl, then add about 1/4 cup of tahini and the reserved cooking liquid. Continue to pulse away until everything is combined and smooth. I found I need to scrape down the bowl a couple of times to ensure everything was incorporated.
After reaching the point of having silky smooth hummus nirvana, scrape the mixture into a dish, then make a well in the middle. Drizzle olive oil into and around the well, then finish with a dusting of paprika.
In future batches, I plan on using roasted garlic to give it a more pungent kick. And when my basil plants are ready, I foresee dabbing some pesto on the top. The possibilities are endless!
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