Tahiniyya: Carrots and Leeks in Sesame Paste

Carrots and leeks with sesame Paste 

from Medieval Cuisine of the Islamic World

Tahiniyya, the original name of this recipe, derives from tahina, the term still used today to refer to
sesame paste. Tahini can be found ready-made in the international section of many markets, as well as in shops stocking Arab or Asian products.

Get some carrots, [the] white [part of some] leeks, sesame butter [tahina], wine vinegar, and atraf tib.
Slice the carrots and boil them. Take the [green] tops of the leeks and boil them separately, then drain
them and soften them in sesame oil. Put the tahina in a dish, sprinkle it with boiling water, and mix
honey, and soe atraf tib. put the drained carrots and leeks in a serving dish and add the tahina. You must do [this] in such a way that the quantity of carrots and leeks suits that of the condiments.

I made my own tahini using this modern recipe:
1 T soybean oil
2 T Water
1 T lime or lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T oregano, minced
1 T sesame seeds

I no longer have the link where I got this recipe. I used a cup of everything, used 1 and not 2 cups of
water and used dried oregano. I guessed on the amount of garlic and it tastes like I guessed right.
I dry toasted the sesame seeds ground them to a powder. Then I blended all of the ingredients together in a food processor. It takes about a week in the refrigerator before the bite of the garlic dies down and the flavors blend and the tahini starts to taste good. It makes a great salad dressing so I will have to make more. The original recipe using a tablespoon of the ingredients makes 4 servings. I made several cups.
I may have to use onions instead of leeks for this recipe for the June since leeks are in season from
September through March so June is right in the middle of their off season and I may not be able to get them, but it tasted great with onions.

6/16/2012 The Thursday before the meeting (3 days before) I had the chance to see the prepared Tahini (sesame butter) at Kabul Market, it looks like toasted sesame seeds ground into a butter with no other ingredients. Since I already had some I made prepared to use in the Tahiniyya I chose to just use it and when I was making the dish I realized that the recipe said you need wine vinegar but didn't say what to do with it, I guessed you are to mix it into the Tahina with the other ingredients for the sauce and since it already contained lemon juice I left the vinegar out. It was great but the addition of the flavored salt that Erin brought made it even better. Next time I make Tahini I will probably just grind the toasted sesame seeds and add any other flavoring to whatever portion I am using at the time. I did see leeks at the grocery store but probably because they are out of season they were very expensive. I chose to use onions since I had tried the dish with that before and knew it would still be good and much easier to afford.