For years, tahini in India tended to arrive in the same tray which had hummus, baba ganoush, a plate of warm pita. The creamy paste of ground sesame seeds was shorthand for middle eastern mezze platter. Now it is turning up in less predictable places. Chefs are spooning it over tandoori potatoes, folding it into chaat, whisking it into salad dressings and using it with kebabs, with its nutty, rich and faintly bitter flavour proving surprisingly accommodating to Indian food.
The effect of fusion
In Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and other large cities, tahini is a familiar ingredient on the menus of upscale restaurants and luxury hotels. At Ziya, at The Oberoi in Mumbai, tandoori aloo with tahini places the sesame paste alongside an Indian preparation. Pomegranate tabbouleh brings another middle eastern note to the menu. In Ahmedabad, Atrangi–The Modern Indian Kitchen offers an atrangi hummus ki chaat, in which silky chickpea-and-sesame hummus is dressed in the vocabulary of Indian street food. At Tahini-Middle Eastern Kitchen in Gurugram, the ingredient appears with adana kebabs and grilled platters. Tahini can become a dressing for grain bowls, roasted vegetables and salads, or a creamy binder in wraps. Bartenders are experimenting with tahini orgeat, using the paste in cocktails for body or fat-washing spirits to extract its sesame flavour without leaving its texture behind.
The health appeal
Part of tahini’s appeal is practical. Sesame paste contains unsaturated fats, fibre, plant-based protein and minerals including iron, copper and phosphorus. It is calorie-dense — 90 calories in a tablespoon — so a little goes a long way.
From region to reinvention
The word tahini comes from the Arabic tahana, meaning ‘to grind’, and the paste has deep roots in the middle east. In India, sesame is hardly exotic. White sesame has been part of Indian cooking and appears in winter foods around Makar Sankranti, in preparations such as Maharashtra’s bhogichi bhaji, and in chutneys served with rice, ghee in parts of southern India.