Sesame

Sesamum indicum · Til · gingelly · benne

The seed that arrives with the cold and the kite-flying.

What it is

Sesame is a small flat teardrop seed, hulled to cream-white or left with its darker coat. Raw it tastes of almost nothing; roasted it becomes nutty and faintly bitter, and it is nearly always roasted. It is around half oil by weight, which is why it burns fast and why it presses so readily.

Where it comes from

Domesticated on the subcontinent thousands of years ago and among the earliest oilseeds anywhere. It is grown across India, and in the north its season aligns with the winter solstice festivals, which is why it dominates the sweets of that fortnight.

What it's called

Til across the north · gingelly or til oil for the pressed oil · benne in parts of the south. White and black seed are the same plant, and are not interchangeable in appearance.

In the kitchen

Dry-roasted until it jumps and turns pale gold, then pounded with jaggery for tilkut and laddu, or worked into thekua and brittle. It also goes on breads and into tempering. Roast it lightly — pushed past pale gold it turns bitter and the sweet goes with it.

What we know about the claims

Genuinely rich in calcium, iron and unsaturated fat. The traditional idea that it warms the body in winter tracks its festival timing rather than any thermal property, but the calorie density is real enough.

Choosing and buying

Any South Asian grocer, sold hulled white, unhulled and black. Hulled white is the default for sweets. It goes rancid — buy small, smell before using, and keep it cold if you keep it long.