Tahini paste is an all-around condiment which is made out from grinded hulled or unhulled sesame seeds. It’s a famous food in Middle-Eastern and Asian countries cuisine. In Persia, this is considered as a “holy food” for them because it’s super nutrients. In the past, it is believed to be the secret of longer and youthful life they had. They think that consumption of tahini makes them wiser and clever than before. Tahini for them fills up and put your physical, mental, and emotional aspects unshakable.
A paste that can be turned into a dressing, a sauce, or an important ingredient. Dressing for both of your vegetable and fruit salads; drizzling a tahini sauce for your grilled meat, pita, and kebabs; an important ingredient of hummus and baba ganoush; and new flavour for your ice cream, cookies, and cake.
Tahini is a vegan dish that suits your healthy lifestyle and eating habit. It has vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and it’s rich in calcium and protein. They help boost your immune system, and omega fats which helps your cardiovascular system works in rhythm. A tablespoon or two of tahini paste can meet your body’s daily requirement need all the vitamins and minerals it needs. The level of nutrients present in your tahini depends on it was made and processed.
Dark roasted hulled tahini has the thickest and rough texture among all; dark coloured, bitter and flavourful. Lightly roasted hulled tahini has sweet taste and an ideal alternative for a food cream. Dark roasted unhulled tahini is the most bitter among all kinds but flavourful and aromatic; texture is between thick and dense texture, it’s not smooth as well as not too rough. Lightly roasted unhulled tahini is smooth and you can taste both sweet and bitter taste in this type of tahini. Raw hulled tahinis just a bit bitter taste and thick consistency as well. And lastly, raw unhulled tahini has the thickest texture among all of them; since it’s raw and hulled you will hate how it tastes.
Above are types of tahini being mentioned. Now let’s talk about which one has more and which one has the least nutritional content. From lower to highest arrangement:
- Dark roasted hulled tahini
- Lightly roasted hulled tahini
- Dark roasted unhulled tahini
- Lightly roasted unhulled tahini
- Raw hulled tahini
- Raw unhulled tahini.
This means that tahini paste made from raw and unhulled is the healthiest, but also has the most bitter taste. How ironic, isn’t it?
Ingredients? You only need two! 3 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 cup of sesame seeds. It only depends on you if you want it hulled or unhulled.
To make it, first heat the skillet in medium heat and add the sesame seeds in the skillet. Stir frequently and be careful not to burn the sesame. Wait until it turns golden brown. Second, remove from the skillet and let it cool in a container. Next, put the cooled roasted sesame seed in a food processor or blender and add in olive oil. Blend them all together until you see a thick paste of tahini. You can add up more olive oil gradually until you’ve reach the desired consistency of your tahini paste. Store in a mason jar or any air-tight containers and chill inside your fridge.