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Tahini

The latest entry in our BABA glossary series is tahini.

Tahini is a the heart of cuisines across the Levant, Eastern Mediterranean, South Caucasus and parts of North Africa. Basically, it’s a paste that’s made from toasted ground hulled sesame and is served by itself, or as a major ingredient in hummus (see our signature recipe below), baba ganoush, and halva.

Because of it’s sweet, nutty flavour, our chefs also use it through many of our dressings and desserts. So the next time you make brownies, try swirling some tahini through the mixture!

Hummus recipe

Serves 10

INGREDIENTS

500g dried chickpeas (soaked overnight)
540g tahini
40g lemon juice
20g garlic
16g salt
300g cooking liquid
100g very cold water to adjust consistency

METHOD

1. Soak the chickpeas overnight in 1L of cold water.

2. Drain the chickpeas, rinse well, and put into a large pan, covering with cold water. Bring to the boil, then simmer until really soft – this will take at least an hour (possibly more, depending on your chickpeas). Once cooked, drain over a bowl, and keep the water – this cooking liquid will be used later on.

3. In a food processor, blend the lemon and garlic until smooth.

4. Then, add the cooked chickpeas with 300g of the cooking liquid and blend until smooth. Add the cold water slowly to achieve your preferred consistency.

5. Hummus always sets a bit firmer in the fridge, so a little extra salt and lemon juice is usually needed to get it tasting just right.