Dukkah: Magical Spice & Nut Mix

Posted by Hiba on Jan 07, 2014 in Recipes & Food

In spite of my Arab roots, I have to admit I discovered dukkah while traveling in Australia last October.

This Egyptian spice mix was served over eggs or salads, providing a taste I immediately fell in love with. It was nutty, spicy, fragrant with just a hint of the exotic all at the same time. I was sold.

As soon as I got back, I tried recreating it. As with any spice mix, there are several recipes so I experimented until I found one I liked fell in love with!

Adding a sprinkle of dukkah to food makes the taste more exciting for our tastebuds. This is important because when taste is interesting and satisfying, we tend to have less cravings.

In our household, dukkah has made an appearance with roasted or steamed vegetables, salads, eggs, and also just with bread dipped in olive oil, then in dukkah (the traditional way). You could also try encrusting fish or meat with dukkah instead of bread crumbs.

You can find all of the ingredients in normal supermarkets except the coriander seeds – I found them in Manor (Geneva) and I am sure you can also find it in ethnic stores (Indian or Middle Eastern). As you will notice in this recipe, toasting nuts, seeds and spices really makes their taste pop.

Dukkah

Inspired by this recipe – takes about 15 minutes to make 

1 cup unsalted nuts or a mix of nuts such as pistachio, hazelnuts or almonds

3/4 cup sesame seeds

1/4 cup coriander seeds

1/4 cup cumin seeds

1 teaspoon sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Start by toasting the nuts – put them on a tray in the oven at 190 degrees Celsius for about 5-10 minutes – keep an eye on them and stir constantly so they don’t burn. You can tell when they are ready from the wonderful smell, and they also become a little darker.

Take them out and leave them to cool completely.

Toast the sesame seeds in the same way – they should take only a few minutes. Once again, the smell and slightly toasted appearance will let you know when they are ready.

Take them out and leave them to cool completely.

Dry roast the coriander and cumin seeds in a pan over low to medium heat. Keep tossing them so they don’t burn. They should be ready in a few minutes – once again the smell will let you know!

Once all the ingredients have cooled, combine them in a food processor and pulse until the mixture is crumbly and as fine or coarse as you would like it to be. Be careful not to overdo the food processing as the Dukkah can easily turn into a paste!

Keep the mixture in a jar in the fridge – it should stay fresh for several weeks (although I don’t think it will last so long!).