Where's The Tahini ?

[realthaideal]

I've only ever brought my own tahini over from the US in my bags, and that's a sporadic thing.

Surely some of the healthy folks out here in CM land are buying tahini regularly, yeah ? Who's got it ? Kasem store ? Rim Ping ? Somewhere else too ?

Anyone buying sesame seeds in bulk n making their own ? How does that go ? What kind of grinder do you use ?

[NancyL]

I bought tahini once at Rim Ping and was amazed at the price, given that sesame seeds are grown in Thailand and are fairly cheap. Most hummus recipes call for power tools and purchased tahini. But, wait a minute -- people have been making hummus W-A-Y before there were food processing machines. A little internet research led to my current practices.

I make tahini with my heavy Thai mortar and pestle. I bought it at Kad Luang and I think it's made from concrete. I pound sesame seeds into coarse fragments, add some sections of garlic, pound some more and it turns into a paste. Then I add a bit of sesame oil and olive oil and scrape the paste from the mortar into mashed canned garbano beans that I've cooked into mush in the rice cooker and a small amount of water. I use a potato masher on the cooked garbano beans and continue to mash when I add the tahini.

Use the masher to blend in lemon juice, parsley or cilantro and usually a little very finely diced hot pepper. Yum!

Oh, I usually steam sliced carrots in the top of the rice cooker when I'm cooking the beans. Just for a few minutes so the carrots aren't so crunchy. Cold steamed carrots, covered with chilled hummus. Double Yum!

Edited October 21, 2012 by NancyL

[elektrified]

Rimping has two brands of imported Tahini. One is about 260 Baht and the other is like 500 Baht and is a little larger than the other but not by much.

[uptoyoumyfriend]

kasem store and the bake mart have it at 130 bt per half kilo-

i think it is called sesame paste,in plastic bags.

[Beetlejuice]

Not so much where, but what is a tahini?

Sounds like a part of the female anatomy.

[Ulysses G.]

They have locally made stuff at Rimping in the refrigerator for about 100 baht, but I'm not sure about the weight. I'm way too lazy to make it myself.

[NancyL]

OK, Beetlejuice since you asked (in your usual style) I'll tell you. It's a paste made from sesame seeds and usually olive oil, sometimes with sesame oil. It's used in many middle eastern dishes, including sweet treats. Sesame seeds are an extremely high source of calcium, but the calcium isn't absorbed by the body if the seeds are digested whole, as often happens if whole sesame seeds are sprinkled into/onto food. But, by grinding the sesame seeds, you release more of the flavor and make the calcium available.

At little tahini is used to make hummus, but it just isn't hummus without the tahini.

[pbeieio]

I Make my own. It is'nt that hard.

http://mideastfood.about.com/od/dipsandsauces/r/tahinirecipe.htm

[Beetlejuice]

OK, Beetlejuice since you asked (in your usual style) I'll tell you. It's a paste made from sesame seeds and usually olive oil, sometimes with sesame oil. It's used in many middle eastern dishes, including sweet treats. Sesame seeds are an extremely high source of calcium, but the calcium isn't absorbed by the body if the seeds are digested whole, as often happens if whole sesame seeds are sprinkled into/onto food. But, by grinding the sesame seeds, you release more of the flavor and make the calcium available.

At little tahini is used to make hummus, but it just isn't hummus without the tahini.

Hummus? Oh never mind, thanks anyway, I may give it a try.

[PETDCAT]

I bought tahini once at Rim Ping and was amazed at the price, given that sesame seeds are grown in Thailand and are fairly cheap. Most hummus recipes call for power tools and purchased tahini. But, wait a minute -- people have been making hummus W-A-Y before there were food processing machines. A little internet research led to my current practices.

I make tahini with my heavy Thai mortar and pestle. I bought it at Kad Luang and I think it's made from concrete. I pound sesame seeds into coarse fragments, add some sections of garlic, pound some more and it turns into a paste. Then I add a bit of sesame oil and olive oil and scrape the paste from the mortar into mashed canned garbano beans that I've cooked into mush in the rice cooker and a small amount of water. I use a potato masher on the cooked garbano beans and continue to mash when I add the tahini.

Use the masher to blend in lemon juice, parsley or cilantro and usually a little very finely diced hot pepper. Yum!

Oh, I usually steam sliced carrots in the top of the rice cooker when I'm cooking the beans. Just for a few minutes so the carrots aren't so crunchy. Cold steamed carrots, covered with chilled hummus. Double Yum!

NancyL Thanks for your method and recipe I'll be sure to try it. I could eat Hummus with a spoon like its pudding,looking forward to making a big batch.

[NancyL]

I Make my own. It is'nt that hard.

http://mideastfood.a...ahinirecipe.htm

This is a "standard" recipes for tahini and involves power tools, i.e. an oven for toasting and a food processor for pulverizing the sesame seeds. I have neither appliance, but I've found that untoasted sesame seeds work OK, too and I make just a small amount of tahini each time I make hummus. The Thai mortar and pestle works well for making the couple tablespoons of tahini you'd need each time you make hummus.

It's amazing what you can make in a kitchen equiped with nothing more than a rice cooker and a refrigerator!

[shepsel]

You can purchase tahini (made in Israel) from the Chabad House on Changklan Road between the Shangrila and Empress Hotels.

[junglechef]

Love all the home cooking but would suggest taking it just one step further and making the hummus with dried beans which are readily available in many places in CM. Canned give that ..well canned flavor. I either soak overnight with some garlic, onion, carrot and a bay leaf, but water works fine too or bring to a boil and take off heat for at least an hour. Then I slowly cook the beans until soft. I do find the centers are a little more difficult to cook through (perhaps the beans I source here are older??) than I'm use to at home. Another fav around my house with all the nationalities!

[Sticky Rice Balls]

A ladyboy once walked up to me and tried to touch my Tahini--i told "her" to please respect me and get

"her" own---i started to walk away and she said "bai nai?" i guess she liked the looks of "my Tahini"..?

[NancyL]

Love all the home cooking but would suggest taking it just one step further and making the hummus with dried beans which are readily available in many places in CM. Canned give that ..well canned flavor. I either soak overnight with some garlic, onion, carrot and a bay leaf, but water works fine too or bring to a boil and take off heat for at least an hour. Then I slowly cook the beans until soft. I do find the centers are a little more difficult to cook through (perhaps the beans I source here are older??) than I'm use to at home. Another fav around my house with all the nationalities!

I tried this once and it was just too much work to try to do it with a rice cooker with two heat settings -- "barely warmer than room temperature" and "roiling boil". I ended up babysitting the machine for over an hour, toggling the switch between "warm" and "cook".

Incidentally, quicker cooking legumes like black-eyed peas, lentils, split peas and job's tears can be easily prepared in a rice cooker. I just throw them in with some long-cooking brown rice and both are ready to eat at the same time. But, you need garbano beans (chickpeas) to make hummus, not a quicker-cooking legume.

(Yeah, I know I should invest in some additional kitchen equipment, but it's fun to see what you can make with just the tools at hand)

Edited October 23, 2012 by NancyL

[just_Elaine]

Just fyi.. Tahini is used to make baba ghanoush (spelling?) which is a dip similar to hummus, but made with grilled eggplant. Also, tahini sauce is sometimes used in shwarmas.