Quick Tahini Recipe

Tahini is very simple and easy to make. Do it for a few times and you’re bound to get to the desired flavor and texture. Only make sure you are using the best raw tahini you can.

Tahini is a thick dip, made of raw tahini which is a sesame paste. It is eaten with hummus, all sorts of salads, burgers and meet, and go wonderfully with many kinds of casseroles.
Preparation takes only about 5 minutes, and if you use quality ingredients you can’t go wrong. It is especially important to use the best raw tahini product you can lay hands on. The best brands are those coming from the Arab city of Nablus (Shechem), and around Europe and the US you can find some decent brands from Lebanon (like Al-Wadi). There are also some OK products from Greece and Turkey.

Tahini sauce

Ingredients
1/3 cup raw tahini
1/3 cup cool water
1/2 lemon
1 small garlic clove
3-5 stalks of fresh parsley
salt

Preparation
1. Put the tahini in a small bawl and pour a little water.
2. Stir slowly until the texture starts to become thicker, then add more water and stir. Repeat a few times. keeping the mixture more or less homogeneous.
3. Squeeze and add the lemon juice. Chop the garlic and the parsley well, and add them while stirring. If the tahini is too thick, add a little more water. Add the salt.
4. Serve with some chopped parsley on top.

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Comments

15 Responses to “Quick Tahini Recipe”

  1. An easy Falafel recipe : The Hummus Blog on August 5th, 2007 5:29 pm

    [...] Quick Tahini Recipe [...]

  2. Hummus recipe : The Hummus Blog on August 17th, 2007 11:19 am

    [...] Quick Tahini Recipe [...]

  3. Easy Palestinian Synia Recipe » The Hummus Blog on December 15th, 2007 7:42 pm

    [...] pounds) ground Meat (beef, mutton or 50/50) 3-4 medium Tomatos, cut to small-medium cubes 1/2 cup Tahini sauce 1 big chopped Onion 1tsp Salt Olive oil for frying 1 spoonfool spice [...]

  4. Jim A. on January 23rd, 2008 1:10 am

    Hi! I’m curious if this is the magical “white sauce” that is found in halal chicken and rice platters? If not maybe this is the place to ask what exactly that sauce is. I know in NYC, street carts have chicken and rice topped with hot sauce and this creamy white sauce that is absolutely addicting. I would love to find out what it is.

  5. shooky on January 24th, 2008 10:13 am

    Jim – I think you’re talking about tahini.

  6. dan on February 4th, 2008 12:48 am

    1 Lg can chick peas
    2 tbs tahini
    3 or 4 habaneros
    2 or 3 garlic cloves 1/3 lemon juice
    3 or 4 sundried tomatoes
    Just use a little of the chick pea juice to blend until it’s like smooth masned potatoes.
    1/4 Tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste
    Didn’t know where to post this but if you like it hot this is the ‘HOT’
    Eat with some Pita chips or whatever

  7. Jim A. on February 12th, 2008 1:24 am

    Your right shooky, it was the tahini sauce! I was so happy to find this recipe out. Now I don’t have to go to midtown Manhattan at 3 in the morning anymore!

  8. newyorkdude on June 11th, 2008 7:32 pm

    I guess you’re from Shechem (Nablus) and are partisan to their local sesame. That’s fine. No problem. Except that many other countries use sesame seeds. If you want good sesame seeds to make your tahina you can also find them for sale at Korean and Indian stores, as well as many others. I note also that you use raw sesame seeds. That’s fine, except I prefer roasted sesame seeds (you can buy them already roasted or you can roast them yourself). The bottom line is that there are many routes to the same destination.

  9. shooky on June 14th, 2008 12:52 pm

    Dude -
    First of all, no – I’m not from Nablus, I’m from Tel-Aviv. And I’m not using raw sesame seeds but raw tahini (which is made from lightly roasted sesame). Sure you can find sesame in many places, but making good tahini out of it is something that the people of Nablus are undoubtedly best at.

  10. Ashley H on July 1st, 2008 1:44 am

    if this is the “white Sauce” from the Halal cart then why is mine tan and not white? are you guys sure its the same sauce and it doesn’t taste the same am i doing something wrong?????

  11. Tia on February 8th, 2010 11:21 pm

    Ashley, the brown will be unhulled and the white hulled.

  12. jharris on February 12th, 2010 2:55 am

    Its probably Tzatziki .

  13. Nishant on February 28th, 2010 10:46 am

    Hi Shooky,

    Im relatively new to the mid-eastern recipes & cuisine but i must admit that it is really tasty. it surely suffices the appetites of people like me who are hard core food lovers

    . Ive been in the mid east from 2 years and love hummus. i try to eat it atleast once a day (1 serving). Thanks to your site, i think i can make authentic hummus myself.

    i have a question for you. in this page, you have mentioned that to make tahini we need 1/3 cup of tahini. can you please elaborate ? do you mean use 1/3 cup of sesame (roasted or raw)?

    as far as i remember from many other sites, tahini is prepared with the above ingreadents 3,4,5,6 + sesame (roasted lightly) + olive oil.

    thanks for ur advice in advance :)

  14. Anniemay on March 28th, 2010 12:37 pm

    I have tried to make hummus & binned it. I could’nt get it smooth ,it was coarse & tasteless although I had garlic lemon juice & salt in it. Processed it for such a long time to no avail. Made my tahini paste with hulled sesame seeds roasted it was very coarse. I love hummus . Help what did I do wrong

  15. jambo on June 3rd, 2010 10:26 pm

    i lived in cyprus a few years ago and have yet, been able to replicate the addictive white paste they had in almost every restaurant and bar. im sick to the back teeth of shelf stackers replying “duh never heard of that” do you mean hummousor those little expensive shops, still no luck!. now ive seen your website ive tried to make some but only been able to produce a right sticky brown separated mess with a raw garlic, yuk. could you go through a process with tools, as i was only armed with a spoon, garlic crusher and bowl. finally, why was mine brown? ta

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