Dukkah

At a wonderful wedding of two dear friends each guest received a tiny bottle of olive oil and a packet of homemade dukkah, an Egyptian dry dip. My love affair with this spicy toasted dip was born. This stuff is moreish. Let’s not just restrict this to wedding favours, use it as a starter or adapt it to make your own family blend. Dried coconut, cinnamon and almonds are great additions. And don’t just scoop it up with olive oil soaked flatbreads – sprinkle over pasta bakes, grilled meats and even serve with a cheese board for a lazy, interesting finish to any meal.

INGREDIENTS

100g sesame seeds

100g blanched hazelnuts, finely chopped

50g coriander seeds

10g cumin seeds

10g sea salt

5g ground black pepper

5g caster sugar

generous pinch dried mint

pinch dried chilli flakes

METHOD

Take a frying pan and put it on the hob over a low heat. Place a large, dry bowl next to the hob – this is where you’re going to tip the toasted dukkah components in batches.

Toast the sesame seeds gently in the dry frying pan until just starting to colour and they start to smell divine. Immediately tip the lot into the clean dry bowl. Add the hazelnuts to the pan and again cook until they are beginning to colour, then add to the bowl. Nuts and seeds can toast in seconds so don’t take your eye off the pan. Toast the coriander seeds for a few seconds, add to the bowl and then toast the cumin seeds, tipping them into the bowl. Leave them all to cool.

Lastly add the salt, black pepper, sugar, dried mint and chilli flakes to the bowl of toasted nuts and seeds. Grind it all in a pestle and mortar or blitz very briefly in a food processor until it looks breadcrumb-like in consistency. Too much processing can result in a paste so a gentle touch is needed. Bag up and spread the dukkah love. This will happily keep for 1 month.

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