Friday 27 September 2013

Creamy Tahini Sauce (Egyptian Tahini Salad)


Tahini is my idea of heaven - who knew that sesame seeds could purée to such a delectable paste? Tahini is one of the "basic essentials" in my cupboard. You know how most people think "basic essentials" and they think bread, milk and butter? Not in our house. Our basic essentials are soy sauce, tea, vegetable stock and tahini. So I never pass up the opportunity to make a new recipe containing tahini.

This recipe is called a tahini salad - I'm not sure if that is a literal translation or just a culturally different definition, but it's more what I would call a sauce. It is served as an accompaniment to a lot of Egyptian food. It goes perfect drizzled on your falafel, pita bread or salad. Smear it on your veggie burgers, drizzle it over your tofu or just use it as a dip with fresh chopped veggies and crusty bread. Yum!


Creamy Tahini Sauce

Ingredients
1/2 cup unhulled tahini
Juice of 1/2 lemon
3/4 cup water
1 tsp cumin
2 garlic cloves, minced finely
Salt and pepper to taste
Sumac, to garnish
Fresh mint, to serve (optional)

To Make
1. Place tahini in a bowl and add the lemon juice. Mix well until completely combined. Add the water bit by bit, stirring well all the while until the sauce is creamy and there are no lumps of tahini remaining.
2. Add the cumin, garlic, salt and pepper and mix well.
3. Chill in the fridge for at least half an hour before serving.




This month I'm featuring lots of delicious food from Egypt.
Check out my other Egyptian recipe posts:

4 comments:

  1. Yum, yum, and yum again! I am also a serious tahini addict. Tangy, creamy tahini sauces are one of my favourite things about Middle-Eastern food as a whole.

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  2. I've never eaten tahini sauce! Only hummus!
    I found your blog through veggie boards, I would love to connect...
    http://theveggiepolyglotographer.blogspot.fr/
    I just followed you on fb and twitter :)

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  3. that looks so perfect and would be great with a falafel sandwich!

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  4. Where my family is from we add chopped parsely. Its a great accompaniment to fried or broiled/grilled fish.

    Some areas of Egypt use vinegar instead of limes (which is more commonly used instead of lemons)

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