tahini paste (and substitutes?) (merged)

tiff

Made a load of houmus yesterday for me and the kids and thought that tahini reminded me of peanut butter. Looked on the net and lots of places recommend using peanut butter if you dont have or want to buy tahini. I've only ever seen it in Sainsburys so far anyway. I expect you'd need more olive oil/lemon juice or water to make it runnier.

needmoney

Thanks for this tiff, i've never been able to find it in my supermarkets.

Curry_Queen

I usually use sesame oil or toasted sesame seeds ground into some olive oil in place of tahini but I quite like the idea of putting crunchy peanut butter in it ... will have to try that later ... thanks!

Ted_Hutchinson

tiff wrote:

Made a load of houmus yesterday for me and the kids and thought that tahini reminded me of peanut butter. Looked on the net and lots of places recommend using peanut butter if you dont have or want to buy tahini. I've only ever seen it in Sainsburys so far anyway. I expect you'd need more olive oil/lemon juice or water to make it runnier.

But bear in mind (if you compare the same serving size) that Tahini is likely to contain less saturated fat so will be healthier than peanut butter.
You may need to change the serving size below to compare accurately.
http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-001-02s02fa.html
http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-001-02s03da.html

tiff

Peanut butter also contains sugar, so you'd have to adjust the other ingredients I think.

lady_fuschia

I have a houmous recipe that needs tahini. Does anyone know where I can get it from? Or alternatively, a houmous recipe that doesn't use it!

Thanks!

Nelski

Hi Lady Fucshia

Ive bought tahini a few times now and had no problem getting it from my local asda or tesco.

I love Houmous so if you have a good recipe let us know:j

ziggy2004

alternatively health shops stock it
my local asda is just too small but the larger tesco in town does have it

X Anne

Heth_2

I've always got it from sainsburies with no problems.

**purpleprincess**

I got mine from Tesco in with my normal shop!!! Recipe for houmous- take 240g (approx) of chickpeas, add couple of tablespoons of lemon juice, once crushed garlic clove and a few tablespoons of tahini. Add a tiny bit of water, whizz it up (I use a stick blender) you may need to add a little bit more water for it to blend up. Don't forget that you can add water if need but you can't take it out if you put too much in!!! At the end if it's too thick just add a bit more water and stir!! Yummy!!! Sorry for the haphazard recipe, bit like me really!!!

finc

I get tahini in health food shops. Despite having several large supermarkets nearby I've been unable to buy it in any. I've heard of recipes using peanut butter or crushed toasted sesame seeds instead of tahini but haven't tried them.

The recipe I use is
400g tinned chick peas (or 200g dried..but soak and cook before using )
Juice of 1 lemon (or 1 tbsp of Jif lemon)
2 cloves of crushed garlic
2 tbsps tahini
4 tbsp oil
pinch of salt and black pepper

Blitz with a stick blender until desired condistency. Sometimes I add a bit of roasted red pepper or chili flakes for a change. (I have houmous EVERY day with pitta bread or veg 'cos I love it!)