If you are interested in the origin of food, I would suggest a most illuminating volume called A Historical Dictionary of Indian Food by K.T. Achaya. Whenever I am in between books, so to say, I open a page at random and read it with pleasure.

Last week, I devoted considerable time to the section on sesame, or til. Do you know how gingelly oil — as til oil is called in the South — got its name? From the Arabic word jel-jel, which came from the rattling sound of dry sesame seeds in a pod. And guess how the word tel (oil) — or taila in Sanskrit — came about? From til, of course.

My interest in sesame was sparked by a meeting last month with Azad Taslim Arif, the senior executive chef at Vedic Village Spa & Resort, a sprawling property on the outskirts of Calcutta. The chef has been experimenting with sesame seeds in his kitchen. And there’s good reason for him to do so — it is extremely nutritious, local farmers grow it and it can be cooked in various ways.

Sesame — or Sesamum indicum — originated in India and then went around the world. It is mentioned in the ancient text, Taittiriya Samhita, as an uncultivated grain that ascetics could eat. Studies reveal that sesame is rich in copper, manganese, calcium, magnesium, iron and several other minerals.

Not surprisingly, sesame is used in cuisines from across the world. The Chinese are especially fond of it — and use both the seeds and the oil. Chef Azad, too, roasts sesame seeds and adds them to his Oriental dish of tofu slices, black bean sauce and crispy spinach. “Sesame seeds with rice vinegar or soy sauce can make an excellent dressing,” he says.

In West Asia, the seeds are used to flavour a whole host of dishes. Tahini, for instance, is a sesame seed sauce that you find across the region. The chef uses sesame in his tabouleh salsa which comes with tahini-marinated tandoori chicken and black olive dust.

In Indian cuisine, too, sesame is seen as a versatile ingredient. Suprabhat Roy, the executive chef of Delhi’s Eros Hilton Hotel, flavours his Hyderabadi saalan and his Punjabi tandoori potatoes with sesame. “Sesame has a nutty flavour and it’s also light on the palate,” chef Roy says.

Crushed sesame seeds work particularly well as a crust — as you’ll find in chef Azad’s sesame gremolata grilled prawns and sesame-crusted vada pao.

Another nice way of using sesame seeds is by putting them in your dough for rotis and breads. In many of the local bakeries of Kashmir, too, bread and buns are flavoured with sesame seeds, points out Utpal Mondal, who is now the executive chef of The Lalit, Srinagar. “But I love to use it in a water chestnut roll, and outside and inside a ball of fried ice cream,” he adds.

As you can see, sesame opens the doors to cuisines. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s why ‘Open Sesame’ is seen as the key to a world of treasure.

Photographs by Subhendu Chaki
Courtesy: Vedic Village Spa & Resort, Calcutta