# ISO Hummus without tahini



## lancas (Jun 10, 2007)

Hi, 
I was wondering if anyone has a recipe for making hummus without tahini?
I often have all the ingredients for hummus, but can't get tahini.
Are there any alternatives that taste good?

thanks, 
liz


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## Andy M. (Jun 10, 2007)

Hi, Liz.  Welcome to DC.

Tahini is sesame paste.  It's a staple in Asian markets. Perhaps you can find some there.

Peanut butter is used as a substitute in some recipes.  I don't know if it would work in hummus.


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## skilletlicker (Jun 10, 2007)

I've made it with peanut butter using Alton Browns recipe.  I'm not as enthusiastic as most of these reviewers but it was pretty good.


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## GB (Jun 10, 2007)

Here is another vote for peanut butter. It will certainly not be the same as hummus, but it will be good nonetheless.


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## auntdot (Jun 10, 2007)

We live in the toolies and can get tahini at our groceries.

If there is an afterlife I hope they have peanut butter noodles on the menu, or at least have provisions for delivery.

I adore peanut butter but believe there is no alternative to tahini in hummus.


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## Andy M. (Jun 10, 2007)

auntdot, if you're making your peanut butter noodles with sesame paste instead of peanut butter, you'll have to change the name...


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## callie (Jun 10, 2007)

lancas, great question.  I cannot find tahini around here either.  I've thought about trying to find some online...


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## Robo410 (Jun 10, 2007)

see if your market has sesame oil in the international asian section.  if so, cut some into peanut butter.  try to use a natural peanut butter also.
for future use, order some on line.  anything can be gotten on line.


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## lancas (Jun 10, 2007)

*follow up*

thanks for all the replies
I'll certainly have to give pbutter a try.

My question was prompted  because I will be living on a sailboat in the tropics. (over 80 most of the time, and no air).I made the assumption that tahini would not keep well under these circumstances.
Maybe that's wrong, and it will keep well in the heat, in which case, I should probably be ok. 
Another consideration on a boat, though, is that storage space is at a big premium, so if I can have a product do more than one job, it gets the space. As far as I know, there is not much else to do with tahini, is there?

liz


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## Robo410 (Jun 10, 2007)

cold sesame noodles use tahini (peanut butter was a substitution)
several salad dressings can be made with tahini.


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## Constance (Jun 10, 2007)

I can't get tahini paste here either. I've intended to order some on line, but wondered if I'd use it that much.
I've saved the recipe, including notes from reviewers that suggested going light on the peanut butter and adding hot sauce, and Robo's suggestion to add a little sesame oil. 
I'm definately going to give it a try. When we have friends come over, I like to have ingredients on hand to make snack, and hummus will be a nice change.


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## bethzaring (Jun 10, 2007)

Constance said:
			
		

> I can't get tahini paste here either. I've intended to order some on line, but wondered if I'd use it that much.
> I've saved the recipe, including notes from reviewers that suggested going light on the peanut butter and adding hot sauce, and Robo's suggestion to add a little sesame oil.
> I'm definately going to give it a try. When we have friends come over, I like to have ingredients on hand to make snack, and hummus will be a nice change.


 
Same here!  I can not locally get tahini and I saved the recipe and the various comments.  I will be trying it with peanut butter


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## Green Lady (Jun 10, 2007)

You can make your own tahini by putting sesame seeds in a high powered blender like the Vitamix.


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## callie (Jun 11, 2007)

Green Lady said:
			
		

> You can make your own tahini by putting sesame seeds in a high powered blender like the Vitamix.


 
What else, Green Lady?  Sesame seeds and.....?
TIA


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## GB (Jun 11, 2007)

Nothing else. Just the seeds.


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## callie (Jun 11, 2007)

thanks, gb!  that sounds almost too easy.  guess I don't care that I can't find tahini around here - i'll just make my own!


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## GB (Jun 11, 2007)

Toast the seeds first and if you need to then use a little olive oil to get it going.


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## larry_stewart (Jun 11, 2007)

sometimes, when i cant get my hands on tahini, ill just make it a little extra thick, and add a few drops of sesame oil for the sesame taste.  Its not perfect, but good in a pinch.


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## velochic (Jun 11, 2007)

My dh loves this recipe, and he's Middle Eastern.  I got it from an old friend in the US, so it's not a recipe I got from the in-laws and lit's ess than authenic.  Still, it's very good.  You might try it if you don't want to mess with griding the sesame paste yourself.

15 oz. can garbanzo beans
8 scallions, chopped coarsely, white parts only
1/4c. fresh lemon juice
1/4c. extra virgin olive oil
1 t. cumin
1 t. coriander
1/8 t. cayenne pepper
6 cloves garlic, chopped coarsely

Whiz it all in a blender, adding small amount of olive oil if it needs to be thinned.  If you are not a garlic lover, you'd definitely want to lessen the garlic... it's very garlicky.


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## skilletlicker (Jun 12, 2007)

Green Lady said:
			
		

> You can make your own tahini by putting sesame seeds in a high powered blender like the Vitamix.


Do you use hulled seeds?
What if you don't have a vitamix? Just an ordinary blender?


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## boufa06 (Jun 12, 2007)

lancas said:
			
		

> thanks for all the replies
> I'll certainly have to give pbutter a try.
> 
> My question was prompted  because I will be living on a sailboat in the tropics. (over 80 most of the time, and no air).I made the assumption that tahini would not keep well under these circumstances.
> ...


 As difficult as the condition you described may be for food preservation, you have far greater chances with tahini than with hummus.  When you make hummus, you must eat it right away or it will become sour in the space of a few hours.  Tahini on the other hand will only become rancid after some time.  Under the conditions you described, this time for tahini should be a number of weeks after you open the jar.  In any case, it is easy to tell when something has gone rancid and it is time to feed the fish with it.

You can also eat tahini straight or spread on bread alone or with honey.  It is a very substantial food and very healthy too.


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## bethzaring (Jun 12, 2007)

velochic said:
			
		

> My dh loves this recipe, and he's Middle Eastern. I got it from an old friend in the US, so it's not a recipe I got from the in-laws and lit's ess than authenic. Still, it's very good. You might try it if you don't want to mess with griding the sesame paste yourself.
> 
> 15 oz. can garbanzo beans
> 8 scallions, chopped coarsely, white parts only
> ...


 

This looks great!!......some of my favorite spices.......and I have everything in stock.

The thing for me about tahini, besides not having it available locally, is that I keep a large quanity of peanut butter on hand.  To order it online, for me, would be like hopping in the car to drive an hour to purchase one item....not in character for me.  I also stock untoasted sesame seeds and am not likely to toast, grind, clean, scrape.....   The peanut butter option is just fine by me, and now this recipe that calls for neither....perfect....


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## lyndalou (Jun 12, 2007)

If it's not made with tahini, it's not hummus, as good as it may taste with peanut butter. Just my opinion. the last recipe offered, sounds very good, though.


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## lancas (Jun 12, 2007)

boufa06 said:
			
		

> As difficult as the condition you described may be for food preservation, you have far greater chances with tahini than with hummus.  When you make hummus, you must eat it right away or it will become sour in the space of a few hours.  Tahini on the other hand will only become rancid after some time.  Under the conditions you described, this time for tahini should be a number of weeks after you open the jar.  In any case, it is easy to tell when something has gone rancid and it is time to feed the fish with it.
> 
> You can also eat tahini straight or spread on bread alone or with honey.  It is a very substantial food and very healthy too.



Thanks! - that's good to know - a way longer shelf life than I would have thought under those conditions. Maybe I"ll try that route then (as opposed to taking the seeds and grinding them as needed - they would go rancid too I'd assume)

Great alternative recipe! I'll have to give that a try

thanks everyone for the great input


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## velochic (Jun 12, 2007)

lyndalou said:
			
		

> If it's not made with tahini, it's not hummus


Actually hummus is the Arabic word for chickpea.  In the Middle East, there are as many ways to make hummus as their are hands to make it, it seems.  My dh's mother made it completely different than his father's sister.  They were from different parts of Turkey.  And it gets even more different from country to country.  I know his sister doesn't use tahini and drizzles olive oil over hers with one of the green leafy herbs (cilantro maybe) to garnish.  They still call it hummus.


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## Green Lady (Jun 14, 2007)

callie said:
			
		

> What else, Green Lady?  Sesame seeds and.....?
> TIA



Sorry for the delayed relpy.  I was out of town for a few days.

Yes, just the sesame seeds in a high-powered blender.  Raw sesame seeds makes raw tahini.  Then add the other ingredients to make the hummus.  Let me know how it turns out.


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## jpmcgrew (Jun 14, 2007)

Ive found tahini at some Walmarts where they carry some jewish food products like Matzo Crackers and potato pancake mix it comes in a can more than you will usually use I would think you could freeze the rest.


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## Claire (Jul 2, 2007)

I often make it without tahini, not because I cannot get it, but because I have to buy a whole jar when I only need a little of it.  Instead I throw some toasted sesame seeds into the mix, and some sesame seed oil (the Asian type) when I'm blending it.  It probably isn't "authentic", but it will have to do.  It breaks my heart to have to throw away food, and for some reason tahini only comes in jars so large that I throw half of it away.  Oh, well.


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## justplainbill (Jul 2, 2007)

Claire said:
			
		

> I often make it without tahini, not because I cannot get it, but because I have to buy a whole jar when I only need a little of it. Instead I throw some toasted sesame seeds into the mix, and some sesame seed oil (the Asian type) when I'm blending it. It probably isn't "authentic", but it will have to do. It breaks my heart to have to throw away food, and for some reason tahini only comes in jars so large that I throw half of it away. Oh, well.


 
If you used 4-6 teaspoons of tahini per 14 oz. of vinegar and olive oil based salad dressings you might not have to throw your unused tahini away.


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## Claire (Jul 3, 2007)

4-6 teaspoons still leaves a heck of a lot of tahini.  I have the seeds and oil on hand, and use them regularly, so that works.


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## Green Lady (Jul 3, 2007)

skilletlicker said:
			
		

> Do you use hulled seeds?
> What if you don't have a vitamix? Just an ordinary blender?



Sorry for the delayed response.  I overlooked this entry somehow.

Yes, hulled sesame seeds.  If you don't have a vitamix try your blender and run it a longer time, being careful not to burn out the motor.  You might have to turn it off periodically to let it cool and also, run smaller amounts of sesame seeds at a time.

Perhaps you can try to run small amounts  of the seeds in a spice blender.  I've never done that, it's just an idea.


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## justplainbill (Jul 3, 2007)

Claire said:
			
		

> 4-6 teaspoons still leaves a heck of a lot of tahini. I have the seeds and oil on hand, and use them regularly, so that works.


 
At 4-6 teaspoons per ounce an 11.5 oz jar of tahini is good for about a dozen 14 oz. batches of salad dressing ( 50 - 60 fair sized portions of salad?). I've had a jar in the fridge for close to 6 months and it's still ok. (hope it wasn't made in China).

Last time I looked Tahini could be ordered online from Hormel.


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