Dukkah (Middle Eastern nut and spice blend) (Egyptian) (vegan)

The dukkah (or duqqa) is a spice mix used in the Middle East, especially in Egypt, as a side-dish or starter. Paper cones filled with this coarse ground mixture are sold as a popular street food, and the buyer dips his pita bread in the vendor's bowl of olive oil and then in the dukkah. This is just the way we recommend you to serve it too (and so did we):

But the dukkah can be used for various other cooking feats: as a topping for pasta and cream soups, as a coating for meat or vegetables before roasting them etc. After you make it, store it in a airtight jar and use it within a month or two. Get creative :)


Last year: Simple chicken stock and Risotto with chicken strips and bell pepper. 





Ingredients:

• 100 g raw hazelnuts
• 25 g pine seeds
• 5 tablespoons sesame seeds (3 toasted, 2 raw)
• 1 tablespoon mixed pepper kernels
• 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 1/3 teaspoon cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice seeds
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoon salt (best kind you have)

Get a frying pan with a heavy bottom and heat it. Put all the hazelnuts in it and keep them there on medium heat. Let them toast until the skins start to come off and they're fragnant (10-15 minutes). Stir once in a while to keep them from burning.

When they seem done, also add the 3 tablespoons of sesame seeds, pine seeds, peppercorns, cumin and fennel seeds and pretty much every spice you're using that is not ground (or a dried herb). Toast them too for 5 minutes, then grind everything together in your blender. It's done, get some bread and olive oil and dig in! :)