Does anyone here make their own tahini, and if so how? I did try blending sesame seeds with olive oil once, but ended up with something like putty :o
It tasted like it too :D Any input would be most welcome!
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Does anyone here make their own tahini, and if so how? I did try blending sesame seeds with olive oil once, but ended up with something like putty :o
It tasted like it too :D Any input would be most welcome!
Maybe just blending seasme seeds by itself? Tahini doesn't have olive oil in it.
what about a splash of water just to loosen the seeds up a bit?
did you throw the 'putty' away? maybe the birdies could have eaten it up?
Not only do I make my own tahini but I am OBSESSED with it. I am never without some in the fridge and I put it on everything.
Sesame seeds should only be eaten raw as the oils go rancid when heated so you get raw (organic preferably) sesame seeds. I use an old coffee grinder to grind them (about 1/4 cup) into a powder and then add the juice of 1/2 a squeezed lemon. It depends on how much mixture you have as to how much water you add - it also depends on what consistency you life - thick or runny, so you have to experiment a bit by adding it slowly in small amounts. I literally only put the sesame seeds, fresh lemon juice and water together.
If you want alternative tastes you could add - garlic, salt, pepper, chives, parsley (tahini goes great with fresh tomato and parsely on toast) flaxseed oil... the possiblities are endless.
I NEVER use it to cook with but put it on salad, toast and mix it through aready cooked pasta, rice, steamed vegetables... It is delicious and SO incredibly good for you - apparently sesame seeds are the greatest source of calcium too!
That's not tahini, though. That's a tahini sauce. Tahini itself is just a nut butter made from seasme seeds. Adding lemon juice and other seasonings makes it a type of sauce. The tahini you buy from the store, in jars, is just seasme seeds.
I'd tend to agree with Tigerlily VanillaBean that what you're making is a kind of a sauce - it sounds like it would be great over salads and stuff and I'll definitetely try it. But could I use it for making hummus? That's what I'm really interested in :) Thanks for all the replies BTW, very useful :)
http://www.ummah.net/family/recipes/tahini.html
Perhaps this is how it is made. If you use sesame oil as the vegetable oil then it is only made of sesame seeds.
No, what I am making is tahina (that's what it is called in Israel). It's common in Middle Eastern and Israeli cooking. You can certainly use it in Humous. I have done so and that is how my Mum makes the traditional humous.
If you want it thicker you add less water. That's what I do to use it as a spread on my toast. That's the only thing I put on toast ever. If you want to use it as a dressing then you add more water to make it runnier. (I make small amounts every 3-4 days as sesame seeds can easily go rancid.)
My concern with the recipe link given by Pob is that is A LOT of oil! You can get a healthier, tastier and much less fatty product with water and lemon juice - the oil is not necessary. And also, that recipe cooks the sesame seeds which is terrible.
Just experiment and give a few things a go and see what you like. I love tahina and love knowing that it is so good for me too. Enjoy!!!
I have you tried blending a bunch of seasme seeds? No oil or anything, just the seeds? That's all it really is.Quote:
fiamma
Thanks so much everyone - I'm gonna try out all of your recipes because I go through massive quantities of the stuff :) Thank you :)
Well I tried making tahini with just water and lemon juice without toasting the seeds and it tasted GRIM!!! :( Really bitter. I don't understand why seeds shouldn't be toasted - I've never read anything to back this up. Do you have any sources VanillaBean?
Just a side note, in Israel, what is regarded as 'Tchina' (Hebrew for tahini), is typically a tahini sauce made from raw tahini and lemon juice, etc..... I am with Tigerlily here... You should be able to grind the sesame seeds enough to get the oil out, making a paste... May take a lot of seeds though... I've never tried, but it seems to make sense :) Good luck!
And with regards to it being oily, that's basically what tahini is.. Sesame seeds ground until they are oily.. It's like the peanut butter of sesame.. Right in the middle of seed and oil, I don't see a problem with adding oil.
My husband just ground up the seeds yesterday and it was tahini. He then made hummus with it and it was unbelievable! He was so happy because buying tahini is expensive. :p