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.
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.
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.
Jim – I think you’re talking about tahini.
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
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!
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.
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.
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?????
The white sauce is more likely Lebanese garlic sauce, which is an emulsion with garlic, oil, etc.
Ashley, the brown will be unhulled and the white hulled.
Its probably Tzatziki .
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 🙂
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
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
When you add tahini in making hummus, do you use raw tahini or “mixed tahini” from the recipe above?
Harry – raw tahini. You do have some recipes in which mixed tahini is used, but not in this case.
confused about raw tahini, I have only seen cans of tahini, what form does this come in and where can you buy it? Thanks!
It is confusing, everything in one place would be better, because: I click on the “Real Hummus recipe” to make this “simple” food, than I have to open in a new window the “Quick Tahini Recipe” because I like to make everything for scratch. Then after reading how to make this very simple tahini sauce I find out that I have to open a third window to find out how the raw tahini is made…I read all the history, but don’t find out how to make the raw tahini, so after opening 3 windows I am blocked, and I have to go in Google and search for raw tahini (sesame paste)
we dont get tahini over here.. can i make it at home? if yes then can i get a recipe? and can we substitute it?
thank you for this recipe: this is exactly what i was looking for!!! i’ve spent a month in israel last year and i love the middle eastern cuisine so much!!!! i’m also using your recipe for falafel: going to fry right now : )
i’m sure they will be delicious.
toda!!!
All you retards – Tahini Paste is NOT Tahini Sauce! – The recipe is for sauce, and is merely the already mashed sesame paste found in jars the world over, mixed in a little garlic, oil, and water to the consistency YOU like.
If you really have to, then go ahead and grind your own sesame seeds from scratch, from whatever roast level you want, to make your Tahini paste. Jar or Can it, and from it make Tahini Sauce or Hummous.
This kind of recipe is like someone explaining how to put salt and vinegar on chips! lol! Or how to boil an egg! hahaha!
Hi,
Thanks for your help. I love making my own hummus but I never know which “tahini” to buy. At my local grocery stores, there is a brown colored tahini (looks sort of like natural peanut butter) and there is a white refrigerated package of tahini (looks sort of like hummus but white in color). Any recommendations on which one is closest to the authentic brands?
Thank you!
Susan
Usually, the lighter the tahini the better. Some good products are golden or light brown.
Greetings,
Tahini- my favorite brand is from Lebanon. The brand is Alkanater. It is in a white plastic container. Most good middle eastern stores have it…but I also like Ziyad.
Anniemay – I use an immersion blender w/ the chickpeas in the jar I’m gonna hold the hummus in. Works for me to get it smooth.
Yummy yummy yummy your latina
If raw tahini is made from lightly roasted sesame seeds, what is raw about it?