Siniyeh – Ground Meat Baked in Tahini with homemade raw tahini

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Meatball mix

1. 1
   Mix the ground meat with the onion, garlic, cumin, baharat, cinnamon, salt and black pepper until evenly combined.
2. 2
   Spread the mixture in an even layer in a shallow baking pan.

   Baking sheet
3. 3
   Grind the sesame seeds in a powerful blender about 3 minutes, until smooth paste forms.

   Blender

   💡At first the sesame looks like dry crumbs: keep grinding, scraping down the sides, and after a few minutes it releases its oil and turns liquid.

   💡In a food processor, grind in short pulses and check between pulses: it's easy to go from coarse to paste. (Sesame for tahini, on the other hand, is ground continuously.)
4. 4
   Taste and adjust the seasoning.
5. 5
   Mix the tahini, lemon juice and garlic and season with salt.
6. 6
   Gradually add cold water while stirring, until the sauce is smooth, pale and pourable.

   💡When you add the first water, the tahini thickens and looks like dough: that's fine. Keep adding water and stirring, and it loosens into a smooth sauce.
7. 7
   Preheat the oven to 200°C (390°F).

   Oven

   💡Put things in the oven only once it's reached temperature, after the heating light has gone off: an oven that hasn't reached temperature changes baking times, and the bake burns outside or stays underbaked.
8. 8
   Pour the tahini sauce over the meat in the pan.

   Baking pan
9. 9
   Bake 25–30 minutes, until the meat is cooked and the tahini is golden.

   OvenBaking pan

   💡The tahini protects the meat from above and keeps it juicy. Take it out when the tahini is golden at the edges, before it dries out.

   💡Check by the cue (until…), not just the clock: every oven bakes a little differently.
10. 10
    Serve hot with pita.