Dukkah is a mixture of seeds, nuts and spices originated in Egypt and the Middle East. It means ‘to pound’ or ‘to crush’. Take a guess! Yep, this is how it is made. I bet you will fall in love with this magic condiment – not just because it is amazingly aromatic and versatile, but also it is super easy and quick to make.
How to make Dukkah
There are many different variations of Dukkah – many different combinations of different types of nuts and spices. This recipe can be one of the simplest. To make this amazing condiment, no sophisticated cooking techniques required. Simply you just do ‘toasting’, ‘pounding’ and ‘mixing’. Doesn’t it sound easy, right? Before everything else, let’s check the ingredients, shall we?
Ingredients
- Almond or hazelnut (more traditional)
- Coriander seeds
- Cumin seeds
- Fennel seeds
- White sesame seeds
- Sea salt flakes
1. Toasting:
Seeds, nuts and spice need to be toasted except for salt. It is best to use oven or air fryer when you are roasting or toasting nuts. Traditionally, hazelnut is widely used but almond or pistachio are good substitutes for Dukkah. Roast in a preheated oven or air fry them at 160-170C for around 8 mins or till lightly toasted brown. Once they cool down a bit, crush all the ingredients and mix them in an airtight jar.
As for spices and sesame seeds, it is best to dry roast. Heat up a frying pan and add whole spices (not powder forms). Seeds and spices are quick to toast. So don’t go anywhere! Dry roast all spices – coriander, cumin and fennel seeds together in a pan over a medium flame. Tip: Heat or oil helps spices unlock their essential oils and release the flavours and aromas.
Toast sesame seeds in the same way as spices. Sesame seeds can get burned easily. So over a low heat, toast them gradually and slowly. Stir with a wooden spoon constantly. It can take about 2-3 mins.
2. Pounding/Crushing:
Nuts: you can chop nuts finely by knife or crush them with nut grinder. Or the most primitive method but effective is to ‘bang a heavy pan over nuts on a chopping board several times till nuts are broken into pieces.
Spices: a mortar and pestle is the best tool to grind and pound. Spice grinder will do the job but it tends to grind it too fine. I like a little rustic coarse mixture. It is up to you how fine you want them to be ground.
Sesame seeds: you can simply keep whole toasted sesame seeds without grinding them. But nutrients are better absorbed into the body when pulverized. I use a mixture of pulverised as well as whole seeds.
3. Mixing:
Hard parts are over. All you have to do is to mix all the ingredients in an airtight jar. Don’t forget to add sea salt. But it is best to add small amount of sea salt at first as you can always add more to suit your taste. But if too much salt, it is harder to fix it.
Now, time to reward yourself.
How to use Almond Dukkah in dishes
You can actually use it for almost everything. It goes perfectly well with a toasted bread, meat or roasted vegetables. Sprinkle this golden dust in any dish you like. Click below dukkah dish recipes
- Poached Egg and Roasted Vegetables with Labneh
- Air fried Zucchini and Crispy Garlic Chive with Beet Hummus
Video Shorts
Ingredients
- Roasted Almond 1/3cup (around 45g)
- Coriander seeds 1 tbs
- Cumin seeds 1tbs
- Fennel seeds 2ts
- White sesame seeds toasted 2 tbs
- Sea salt flakes half teaspoon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven at 160C-170C (320-340F)
- Spread raw almond (blanched or unblanched) on a baking tray
- Roast the almond for about 8 mins or till lightly golden (see Note)
- Dry roast all the spices together on a pan over medium heat for a few mins (see Note)
- Dry roast white sesame seeds on a pan over low medium heat for a couple of mins till lightly golden (see Note)
- Let all the ingredients cool down a bit
- Cut or crush almond with a knife or nut cracker
- Pound the roasted spices using a mortar or pestle
- Pound small portion of sesame seeds (see Note)
- In an airtight jar, put all the crushed almond, spices and seeds mixture
- Add salt and shake it well to mix (see Note)
Notes
- The recipe calls for roasted almonds. Roast them as per the instruction if you have raw almonds.
- Cool all the ingredients first before crushing. Otherwise, the essential oil that has been released via roasting make them moist and stick to each other.
- Sesame seeds can get easily burned. Don't go anywhere! Ensure that you can swirl the pan or stir constantly for roasting evenly.
- Mortar and pestle is ideal to pound as the coarseness or fineness can be easily controlled.
- You can use spice grinder to grind all the nut, seeds and spice mix (instead of a mortar and pestle). Spice grinder can grind them very fine. If you want a little bit coarse texture, several short bursts of grinding till it achieves its desired fineness
- It is best to add small amount at first and add more gradually to the mixture (if needed). Harder to fix once too much salt added
