Dukka

[Timo]

Hi everyone - does anyone have a good recipe for, or good uses for Dukka? I have seen quite a few recipes for it recently, (even a sweet dukka) but I really have no clue how to use it once it's made. Do you serve it on bread? In another recipe? Just inhale it from the jar? Well, if anyone is familiar with it, any info. (or recipes!) you could share would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

-Tim

[Stone]

Familiar with it? I live it. The only good use for dukka is that when you accept that it's in your life you can take steps to remove it. You must learn to recognize desires and try to rid yourself of them. There's only one recipe you need: the four noble truths, man. Dukka is number 1.

[awbrig]

isnt that a childrens game or something?

[Steve Plotnicki]

In Australia dukka is very popular as a condiment used with olive oil. They pour some olive oil on a plate and then sprinkle dukka in it. Then people dip bread in the dukka'd oil. I know this because a Bahamian friend of mine spent a lot of time in Australia and brought me back a pack of dukka as a gift.

[britcook]

As well as spicing up your oil you can sprinkle it over your meat as a seasoning or add it to casseroles and such.

[Suzanne F]

Yeah, the usual way is to dip bread first in olive oil, then in dukka.

When I worked for an hors d'oeuvre manufacturer, we developed a puff pastry stick, washed with egg white plus water, with dukka sprinkled on it. You could do that, or sprinkle it on cracker dough before you bake it.

[Sandra Levine]

Here's what dukka is, in case anyone was wondering.

[Timo]

Thanks all! Suzanne-your hors d'oeuvre sounds like its worth maing the dukka for :) I'll give it a try- I'm sure it would go well with the Christmas Turkey this year

So... the nearest Middle Eastern market is probably in New York (a mere 8 hours away from me... but only 45 mins if I fly) So, instead of spending money on the airfare, I think I'll just try to make some of my own. Anyone made it? does it turn out? I have had only modest success with most "ethnic" dishes I try to prepare.

[polly]

S.Plotnicki is right about Dukkah being popular in Australia. We have many wonderful middle eastern chefs and there has been a bit of a middle eastern/north african food revival going on for a while.

This is my method for Dukkah, amounts are up to you:

Toast seperately:

hazelnuts

sesame seeds

coriander seeds

cumin seeds

Add:

salt

a little dried thyme

Whizz all this in a food processor until it has a finer texture (but you still want recognisable pieces of all he ingredients in it) .

I usually use it to dip bread into or to sprinkle over strips of calamari before frying or on top of bread or in a crust or on roast eggplant with tahini sauce ...

[Suzanne F]

You can hardly go wrong making it. The recipe we used was toasted hazelnuts (you could leave the skin on or blanch them, as you wish), dried thyme, coarsely ground black pepper, and kosher salt. All ground in the food processor until the consistency of sand. Don't have the proportions, but it was mostly nuts, then small amounts of the other ingredients; a re-working of a recipe in Flatbreads and Flavors by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid. That book has a couple of other recipes for similar spice blends.

[Timo]

Thanks Polly! Any recommendations on how to find the perfect proportions here? I mean, I have no clue what it is supposed to taste like, I can just fool around with it until I get something I like - though it may not turn out authentic. (I can go overboard when hazelnuts are involved sometimes)

[Suzanne F]

Oh, pooh! Authenticity be damned. Like so many other foods, there are as many ways to make it as there are people who make it! Go with what tastes good to you. Just make sure that you taste some part of everything you put in!

(Besides, will the people you feed it to know what it's "supposed" to be like? ) If it tastes good, it IS good. (hmmm, maybe I'll go back to using that for my signature. )

[polly]

Ditto suzanne's post about amounts.

Basically though, more nuts and sesame than coriander and more coriander than cumin.

does that make sense?

[Sabra_1]

Hi There

I make my Own Dukkah and as a few have said it is served with bread, Olive oil in one dish dunk bread oil and then the Dukkah.

I make mine with roasted nuts and spices then grind in an electric grinder, try it with different combos I like cashew nuts, chillies, cummin, corriander, etc etc. Just Yum

[Irenesh]

Dukka tastes delicious with flat bread. As far as amounts of each ingredient, hazelnuts are the main ingredient, followed by sesame seeds. Spice amounts are to taste.

[mattsea]

Clotilde of Chocolate and Zucchini "discovered" it while she was in Australia:

"Dukkah, an Egyptian mix of ground nuts, seeds, and spices that was new to me, but seems very popular in Australia ("Yeah no, it was really big fifteen years ago," Melbourne restaurant critic Stephen Downes informed me with a grin)"

http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/2008/03/what_i_brought_back_from_oz.php

[Nyleve Baar]

My recipe - given to me by a South African friend who is married to a New Zealander. I sometimes use it to coat salmon or rainbow trout fillets before frying or baking. But mostly I like it as everyone else has described - with olive oil and bread. It's addictive.

1/2 cup sesame seeds

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

1 cup blanched almonds

1/4 cup cumin seeds

1/4 cup coriander seeds

1-1/2 tsp. coarse salt

1 tbsp. paprika

1-1/2 tsp. turmeric

Heat the oven to 350o F. Put the seeds and almonds in to roast, in separate foil dishes or pie plates, in the order given. We find that the first few take longer than those lasted last. Watch carefully, checking them at least every 5 minutes, and take out each container when the seeds have darkened a little (but not a lot) and have an appetizing aroma. As a guide, most will take about 10 minutes, but sesame and sunflower seeds take longer.

Leave to cool, then grind with the salt, paprika and turmeric, in one or two batches in a food processor, using the pulse button, or grind in a mortal and pestle. The mixture should have some texture – it should not be ground to a powder.

Makes about 2-1/4 cups.

[petit cochon]

Was first introduced to dukka in Cape Town during my honeymoon this past August. Our hotel served it w/ soft-boiled eggs and toast soldiers for breakfast - we loved the combo so much that we have been replicating it at home (w/ dukka we brought back from South Africa).

I've also been meaning to try this as a topping for home-baked pita served w/ hummus... actually, maybe tomorrow as part of my Halloween spread!