On 12/8/2016 at 11:04 PM, Nicolai said:Dunno about caraway, we use it for sweet stuff.
Dunno about Tahina with Shakshuka but is it not an overload of flavours?
Dunno about making a spice paste when you can do the whole spicing in the same pan.
and where are the onions, tons of onions.
Haha, yes it's nice to see how dishes change from region to region and house to house.
In Turkey they serve a shakshuka-like dish with the eggs scrambled in the sauce. And under Turkish influence, the Hungarian created their lecsó, my grandparents are of Hungarian descent, and so I learned to like this dish from youth. I never connected the dots between this dish shakshuka until I was much older.
The version of lecso I make (not nearly often enough) has more peppers and paprika, as well as plenty of browned onions 
I don't remember if they used to add caraway, but I add it to this dish as well - no cumin though.
My short cooked shakshuka is even more like an hot salsa with barely cooked tomatoes and strong garlic flavor and also sumac.
I encourage you to try the tahini, I don't find it to be too much at all, rather its fattiness smoothes the sauce spices, and the nutty flavor is also nice.
The spice paste is made separately because I find the long cooking in the sauce mutes some of its flavors - mostly of the garlic and the cumin. It's definitely not a must-do.
And about the caraway, I don't think I ever had it in dessert before, I can imagine it working in some crisp cookies, where I will usually put anise seeds. Do you have a favorite sweet that uses it?