The sesame seeds are a popular food crop that is known as “Ridi” and also referred to as “Benne” seeds in northern Nigeria; generally, the unhulled sesame seeds are called “ridi” whereas the hulled sesame seeds are known as “kantu” in Hausa. The sesame seeds oils are used in traditional household recipes for food and herbal remedy; also in the pharmaceutical, and food industries. The sesame seeds oil is the most expensive vegetable oil in Nigeria making the sesame seeds a highly demanded crop for a variety of products not only in Nigeria but all over the world; Nigeria is found to be amongst the highest producer of sesame seeds in the world ranking amongst the best five countries with most of the northern states and some southern parts of Nigeria going into sesame seed cultivation for local and international markets, exporting to gain foreign exchange. Sesame seed is an important crop to individual families; almost all farmers invest and engage in cultivating sesame seeds due to its ease in planting thriving very well in relatively poor climatic conditions which makes the crop perfects for northern Nigeria’s weather, because of its drought-resistant nature.
Sesame seed is an oily seed, a good source of vegetable oil with its no-cholesterol making it a healthy oil; processed in the north of Nigeria into different snack recipes for retail business ventures, seen hawk all across the cities of the north by kids and food vendors; such popular snacks include “ridi mai siga” is the sweet crunchy sesame wafers and the “ridi mai gishiri” is the salted free-flowing sesame seed eaten by the handful. These snacks are beautifully packaged in transparent packs, sold everywhere by retailers, arranged in the snack sections of stores and shops; eaten alone or mix with other snacks like peanuts, and coconuts. Sweet deliciousness made out of this awesome and wholesome crop are drinks such as sesame seed milk in Hausa called “madarar ridi”, kunun ridi is prepared with other millet grains to make the sesame seeds gruel, whereas “kantu” in Hausa is the ever-popular sesame seeds biscuits wafers, the delicious vegetable soup is known as “miyan ridi” in Hausa, a wholesome meal porridge is called “Gwaten Ridi” and for the pastries are the sesame bread, doughnuts, puff-puff, muffins, and cakes.
There are many colors of the sesame seeds with black and white as the most popular and common; sesame seeds are easy to be incorporated in various recipes, which gives a nutty flavor, and a subtle crunch to dishes. Roasting or toasting sesame seeds enhance the flavor, aroma, and nutrients; used for garnishes in stir-fries, cereals, bread, pastries, crackers and biscuits, smoothies, salads, baking, frying, soups, and sauces. The black sesame seeds have a much nicer aroma and a stronger flavor with a more crunch compared to the pale white sesame seeds that have their outer hull removed. Black sesame seeds are rich in nutrients that give support to optimal health with regular eating, also may help reduce oxidation in the body, improve blood pressure, provide antioxidants and plant chemicals that help fight cancer. The black sesame seeds are so rich and deliciously versatile for use in various nourishing recipes.
The following are some of the recipes using sesame seeds; for ease of use in various recipes the processing of the seeds can either be by soaking, roasting, or sprouting the sesame seeds which helps limits the impacts of antinutrients. Any marketplace without a section for this power-house of nutrients is not complete, go get your sesame seeds today, and let us try some of these sweet yummy recipes. I promise you that once you try them it will be a regular in most of your recipes; so start crunching:
Toast Or Roast Sesame Seeds:-
Sesame seed is incorporated in various recipes by first toasting in the oven or roasting on the stove-top, it can also be micro-wave; which gives the sesame seeds a distinctly unique aroma and a delicious taste, with a beautiful light golden color.
Recipe Steps:-
Wash sesame seeds thoroughly, to remove all dust, dirt, debris, and stones. After a long soak in a lot of water, the sand and tiny stones will go down to settle at the base of the bowl. Strain water and then scoop out the clean sesame seeds into a sieve or colander to avoid the stony seeds and to help all water drain out. Spread out to dry on a large tray.
Place a dry pan on low heat and transfer the dried seeds into it, then dry fry with the aid of a spatula to move the seeds around to avoid burning, until the aroma is perceived and the color is lightly golden; a notable sign is the seeds will start to pop-up.
Transfer again to a tray to air and cool. Store in an air-tight container to preserve flavor and aroma. Keep and use for other recipes like crunchy barbecue, fried or roasted chicken; Delicious in one pot vegetable porridge called “Gwaten Ridi” in Hausa.
Salted Sesame Snacks is a nutritiously, filling and free-flowing snack that is eaten by the handfuls. The recipe steps begin by taking the required quantity from the above recipe and just before dry roasting it. Soak in salted water for several hours, strain salty water, and dry it. Toast or roast as for the above. Store in transparent air-tight glass containers or jars, label properly, and keep in a dry place. A flavorful and wholesome meal to eat as a snack, giving a feeling of satiety.
Toasted Sesame Seeds Oil:- Method (1): Sesame seeds oil is high in mono and polyunsaturated fats, the most preferred and very popular oil for cooking. A simple step of toasting the seeds until golden brown; next is to put the seeds into a blender and add any cooking oil of your choice. Blend up the seeds until creamy smooth. The same method of sesame seed oil extractions is applied for the black sesame seeds although the nutrient loads and color of the oil differ.
Recipe ingredients:-
Toasted sesame seeds.
Cheese bag or fine colander.
A sealed glass jar.
Recipe Steps:-
Wash sesame seeds, drain water and spread out to dry. Oven toast on a tray until light golden brown; and if preferred roast on low-heat stove-top using a frying pan until dry and light golden color. While toasting in the oven regularly stir with a spatula by pushing around the seeds for even distribution of heat to toast, the same is applied if using the stove-top. As soon as a deliciously nutty aroma is perceived it is ready.
Remove from oven and pour into a pan with any vegetable oil or preferably the sunflower oil, place on low heat and warm up together. Cool slightly and transfer into a blender; blend until a smooth and creamy consistency is achieved. Then turn the blended sesame seeds into a bowl and let them steep for several hours to absorb the flavor and aroma of the sesame seeds. The oil will move to the top while the sunflower oil will be at the base of the pan. Extract the oil using a cheesecloth, strain out the oil, and store in a sealed jar, label with ingredients and date.
Toasted Sesame Seeds Oil:- Method (2): Sesame seed oil is rich in calcium, copper, zinc, iron, and magnesium; a very delicious, flavorful, and aromatic oil; this is for the Homemade do-it-yourself, superb yet simple sesame seed oil extraction. The sesame seed oil is extracted by using sunflower oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil, or coconut oil added to the seeds to help separate the oil from the sesame seeds. The second method is to mix the roasted sesame seeds with the cooking oil of choice, on low-medium heat to warm up the oil and sesame seeds to make the oil extraction easier. Cool slightly and blend until creamy smooth. Allow to rest undisturbed in the blender, until the sesame oil moves and rises to the top and the other oils sink to the base; To separate the two oil is either by scooping or mix in and use as sesame seeds oil when required, if using groundnut oil then extract with the use of cheese bag to separate the sesame seeds oil or pour in the oil through the bag then the sesame oil will separate from the other oils. Store in airtight refilled bottles for use when needed. Â
Sesame Seeds Soup is known as “Miyan Ridi” in Hausa:-
A vegetable soup just like egusi, nutty, fragrant, delicious, and healthy soup. The black or white sesame seeds are used for preparing this soup, and several other local soup delicacies. The roasted sesame seeds are divided into two equal parts, with one part blended and the other half added to the soup without blending just for that extra-crunch taste. This particular recipe goes all the way by blending all the sesame seeds for a creamier thicker soup.
Recipe ingredients:-
Sesame seeds are known as ridi also called kantu in Hausa.
Smoked fish is kifi in Hausa.
Meat, beef, or chicken is nama in Hausa.
Crayfish.
Palm oil.
Onions, sweet pepper-tatasai, attarugu-scotch bonnets.
Seasoning cubes, salt, and local spices are known as yaji in Hausa.
Ganyen Alefu is Efo in Yoruba or Ganyen Ugu that is known as Ugu leaf.
Recipe steps:-
Wash and spread the sesame seeds on a large tray to dry.
Oven toast or roast on the stove-top until light golden brown, then measure the required quantity for the soup.
Blend just like egusi or groundnut paste using a blender until creamy smooth.
Place meat in a clean pot with onions slices, spices, smoked fish, season with salt, and seasoning cubes, and cook until soft and tender.
Wash and blend the sweet pepper, red pepper, and onions. Stir-fry in palm oil with onion slices. Add in the crayfish, cook to a thick fried sauce.
Add in the cooked meat, the broth, and the blended sesame seeds, check for salt and seasonings. Cover and simmer on low heat.
Wash, pick, and shred the green vegetables spinach or ugu, or both, depending on choice.
Add to soup, cover, and simmer on low heat until the soup is thick and water content is reduced and soup is well cooked.
Serve with tuwon shinkafa, tuwon masara, pounded yam, or semovita, eaten alone as a nutritious soup benefits one with vital nutrients.
Sesame Seeds Milk is known as madara ridi in Hausa:-
Plant-based milk is rising in popularity day by day with an exceptional nutritious value, and a good alternative to cow milk, with loads of healthy fats to support the liver and heart, for muscle maintenance and repair. Yummy and so creamy, fantastic dairy-free milk that is high in calcium. The black sesame seeds milk is beautifully inviting and absolutely sweet.
Recipe ingredients:-
Black or white sesame seeds is ridi or kantu in Hausa.
Pitted dates or honey.
Water, a pinch of salt.
Vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, or cloves.
Recipe Steps:-
Soak sesame seeds in hot water for an hour or soak overnight with a pinch of salt to remove the brown colors of the sesame seeds if using the white-colored seeds but for the black sesame seeds just soak to hydrate and soften.
Strain water and rinsed severally until water is clear.
Put into the blender, add pitted dates, salt, and some pure water, add the flavor of choice and blend on high speed until creamy smooth. If using for smoothies, just add favorite fruits. Blend and serve chilled.
But for a simple milk recipe, go ahead and strain using a cheese bag; squeeze all milk from the pulp using your hands. Drink immediately or store in refilled bottles in the refrigerator. Keep for use the husks or fiber for other recipes such as pastries, biscuits, cakes, and crunchy sesame snacks.
Crunchy Sesame Doughnuts:-
A deep-fried sesame seeds round rings snacks;
Recipe Ingredients:-
Raw Sesame Seeds.
Cake flour.
Eggs.
Butter.
Sugar.
Vegetable oil.
Salt and baking powder or soda.
Hot water.
Recipe Steps:-
Boil some water, add sugar to the hot water, stir until melted. Cool to avoid eggs scrambles, and beat in the fresh eggs. Combine well. Keep for use in the mixture. Sift cake flour into a clean bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Rub in the butter and Mix in the sugar-egg mixture. Knead with gloved hands until dough comes together, soften dough with little water or vegetable oil if the dough is too hard. Cover dough, allow to rest and double in size undisturbed for several hours.
Shape the dough by working it and rolling on a lightly floured kitchen surface. Cut out the shapes with the use of a round cup or doughnut cutters.
Then spray or sprinkle water on the sides of the doughnuts, place sesame seeds in a shallow dish, then dip each and every doughnut rings into the sesame seeds, roll around, and press in the sesame seeds to coat doughnuts all over.
Place a deep saucepan over medium heat, pour in the vegetable oil, heat, and fry doughnuts until lightly golden brown on both sides. Serve hot. Cool and store in airtight bowls in the refrigerator.
Sesame Seeds Crispy Wafers:- A popular northern Nigeria snack found on food vendors hawking it all over the country, on trays by kids, fancy packages on the shelves of stores and supermarkets. A deliciously crispy sweet wafer-thin snack prepared from a mixture of sugar, and honey; made into balls and then shaped or flattened with the palms of hands, biscuit cutter, or press with the base of a glass. Recipe ingredients:- Sesame seeds black or white variety, sugar, and honey, the flavor of choice.
Recipe steps:- Measure out the required quantity from the washed sesame seeds known as “ridi” in Hausa and pan-dry it. Prepare a sweet syrup with sugar, honey, and any flavor of choice. Stir up until melted and lightly golden. Gradually stir in the sesame seeds, and combine well. Line a tray with foil or parchment paper, scoop the sesame seed mixture onto the foil paper, mold or shape as desire into rounds, square, triangle. Allow it to cool to harden. Store in an airtight container.
Sesame Seeds Crispy Bites:-
A sweet gift for families and friends, with every bite, comes more requests for more bites. A perfect way to incorporate sesame seeds into the daily diets but the sugar contents must be control in order to avoid offsetting the beneficial nutrients the body gains.
The second method request a little more ingredients as follows;
Recipe ingredients:
Sesame seeds the black or white.
Sugar and honey.
Butter and baking powder.
Salt to balance taste and to add sparkle.
Cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg.
Water.
Adding baking soda or baking powder to the recipe help to create air bubbles which gives a light dough with delicious crispiness.
Recipe steps:-
Place a dry pan on low heat, add into it sugar, honey, water, nutmeg, and salt. Stir until melted, smooth, and well-combine into a caramel. Stir in the wash raw sesame seeds, cook on low heat, stirring often to avoid sticking to the base of the pan and burning.
When the mixture turns to a beautiful caramel color or a light golden brown; remove from the heat and add vanilla, cinnamon, and butter. Fold mixture gently to combine all ingredients, once the butter has melted into the mixture then stir in the baking soda or baking powder and the mixture will immediately bubble up.
Pour on a baking sheet or baking tray line-up with foil paper, divide and shape using a biscuit cutter.
If desired allow to cool off completely to harden, and break into uneven shape pieces.
The perfect recipe for sesame black seeds, other seeds, and nuts varieties of choice.
Sesame Seeds Sweet Drinks:-
Sesame seeds are cherished and enjoyed for their nutritional properties; high in fatty acids, minerals, and antioxidants loads.
A sweet soothingly refreshing juice, drinking a glass of sesame juice after a spicy meal can cool the body from within and reduce side effects from eating spicy foods.
Recipe ingredients:-
Sesame seeds.
Sugar or honey.
Water.
Recipe steps:-
Wash sesame seeds thoroughly, toast, until seeds are fragrant. Remove from heat and cover.
Blend using a blender, put into it sugar or honey as to choice, diced coconuts which are optional, sesame seeds, and water. Blend the sugar-seeds mixture until smooth, using a cheese bag strain and squeeze out most of the milk. Pour into a jug. Serve chilled in tall glasses with ice cubes. Store in refilled bottles in the refrigerator.
Sesame seeds are considered a superfood by many for their added healthy benefits; from improving skin, teeth, and hair to helping with digestion with its powerful nutrients loads, a great source of plant protein that is a necessary building block for the body from muscles to the hormones. The black sesame seeds help cure constipation due to their high fiber for smooth bowel movements, excellent for supporting digestive health, and their oil help lubricates the body’s intestines. Regularly eating sesame seeds help to reduce the heart disease risks; its high magnesium aids in preventing hypertension and the oil helps to keep blood pressure level in check.
Sesame seeds oil is beneficial for healthy skin, body, and luscious hair growth. Protect against cancer, remedy for toothaches and tooth decay, aids in asthma and bronchitis, lowers blood pressure, lowers bad cholesterol, and excellent for brain health. Sesame seeds oil reduce inflammation, prevents bone disease, and controls diabetes. The sesame seeds oil’s antioxidants may help prevent plaque build-up, remove dental plaque and boost oral health.Â
Sesame seeds are rich in antioxidants of plant compounds and vitamin E which help to combat oxidative stress in the body; help to reverse signs of aging, gives one youthful beautiful skin, soft and supple. Its anti-inflammatory properties, help fight and reduce inflammation which aids in healing redness, sores, and facial skin problems; Try this amazing skincare recipe, mix olive oil and powdered sesame seeds into a thick paste, then dampen the face, apply the mixture, scrub the face with it weekly. A beauty care regime begins with a mixture of olive oils and sesame seed oils for great glowing healthy skin and hair.
The black sesame seeds are abundant in calcium and zinc for strong bones rich in nutrients that are vital for bone health. Sesame seeds are a good source of thiamine, niacin, vitamin B6 which are necessary for proper cellular function and metabolism.Â
May help reduce joint pain and support mobility in arthritis of the knee with its excellent loads of sesamin, a compound found in sesame seeds that has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects that may protect the body’s cartilage. Superb support for the body’s immune system; such as zinc, selenium, copper, iron, Vitamin E, which also support thyroid health.
Precaution and Warnings:- It is best to always stay on the safe side and stick to food amounts in daily diets, when taken too much an adverse effect may occur that might increase the risk of bowel obstruction in some people, excess in all things is bad.
Sustainable Production Of Sesame Seeds In Nigeria:- Sesame seeds are in high demand all over the world for their healthy oil which is amongst the best in the whole world. Sesame seed production has a great potential for revenue generation, it could provide job opportunities for many Nigerians through its value chain with properly improved infrastructure and crop processing plants. The sesame seeds are regarded as the black gold after the Nigerian crude oil; an important oilseed crop cultivated in northern Nigeria, that needs more investment for the value chain diversification of its oil extraction on a commercial scale for export.
Sesame seed production is relatively sustainable, with no known significant damage to air, water, land, soil, forests, animals, and wildlife as long as pesticides are not used. It is advisable to always demand and buy organic sesame seeds to discourage chemical and toxic pesticides that contaminate the air, water, soil, and ecosystems. Go vegan if not completely maybe on some days of the week, as a way to save the planet and help mammals, because it takes more water to yield foods that come from animals than foods that come from the plant; the water footprint of animal product is larger than the water footprint of an intelligently cultivated product. Sesame seeds have a low carbon footprint; a more vegan diet in daily meals could also help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As a whole growing and eating plant-based foods from home gardens is the most environmentally sustainable method to help save the world from the devastating impacts of climate change!