Recipes

Dukkah

Makes about 4 cups

Recipe by chef Claudia Roden

Dukkah is a crumbly mixture of nuts, herbs, and seeds. Although its origin is Egyptian, we first encountered it in South Australia, at a riotous lunch hosted at St. Hallets winery. It was laid out in a dish in the middle of the table, and our Australian hosts instructed us to dip our bread into olive oil (also in a small dish on the table), and then into the dukkah. We’ve since served it at Oldways conferences and have given gifts of dukkah to our friends. In addition to using it as a dip with bread and olive oil, you can use it in cooking fish or chicken, or on salads or pasta dishes.

Ingredients

1 cup sesame seeds

1 3/4 cups coriander seeds

2/3 cup blanched hazelnuts, skinned

1/2 cup cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Put each variety of seeds and nuts of a separate tray or a shallow oven dish and roast them all for 10 to 20 minutes, until they just begin to color and give off a slight aroma. As they take different times, you must keep an eye on them so that they do not become too brown, and take out each as it is ready. Alternatively, toast them in a large dry frying pan, stirring constantly.

Put the nuts and seeds together in the food processor with salt and pepper and grind them until they are finely crushed but not pulverized. Be careful not to over blend, or the oil from the too-finely ground seeds and nuts will form a paste. Dukkah should be a crushed dry mixture, not a paste. Taste and add salt if needed.

Copyright © 2007 by Claudia Roden.

From the book the Oldways Table, published by Ten Speed Press.

Reprinted with permission.