Dukkah Recipe

Since hazelnuts grow in temperate climate decidous/coniferous forests, I wouldn't think they'd be ubiquitous in Mediterranean cooking, but perhaps they were a prized trade item that was used on occasion? In any case, taste them before using, they are quick to go rancid when improperly stored.

toodie jane Jan 13, 2011 08:58 AM

Me and my partner just tried the recipe out of The Spicy Food Lover's Bible by Dave Dewitt and Nancy Gerlach which adds mint, fennel and salt into the mix and excludes the pistachio. Absolutely delicious and has now been had both with the traditional bread and olive oil as well as sprinkled on buttered toast with a bit of brown sugar (just as delicious) and on top of ice cream just a few minutes ago. The contrast between the salty/aromatic of the dukkah and the sweetness of the ice cream was delightful. For sweet uses I would probably do a different version with some rose petal in the future just to add a little floral note.

No Chilipepr.....Sometimes the comments of others cause us to be judgmental and has nothing to do with ego. I did cooking demonstrations for years and was always amazed by the number of people who are consistently able to misunderstand the simplest instructions. In the situation above the word "blanched" answered the question.

f I were going to leave out the nuts I would use a slightly lesser amount of coriander and cumin, then taste and make adjustments if I thought any were necessary.

Isn't it our own ego that allows us to judge others?

...and can't we all just get along?

Back on point, thanks for posting this recipe. I am looking forward to trying both recipes, the original post and sans nuts as hanna5 suggests. Though I'm curious; without the nuts would the proportions of the other ingredients change?

Chilipepr Jan 7, 2010 01:12 AM

Hilarious! My sentiments exactly.

I am truly amazed that some folks try to make the simple complicated. The fact that the recipe calls for "blanched" hazelnuts indicates that not only are the nuts out of their shells but that they have had their skins removed also. Common sense would tell you then that the pistachios would be in the same condition. Such a simple, but delicious, recipe. Cooking is much simpler if one has a command of the language in which the recipe is written.

There are virtually no 'absolute' recipes. They are there for interpretation and our subjective appreciation. I am happy to try this 'version' of Dukkah simply because the ingredients appeal to my taste buds.
I find some of the comments so full of ego, probably misplaced; and wonder why people don't read what they wrote, if only to correct the spelling!

interesting comments, really takes you somewhere!

Our whole "out of Egypt" generation uses the mortar & pestle for dukkah, & it ends up the man's job as we ladies just don't have the strength... Don't tell anyone, but I made our last couple of batches in the spice grinder attached to my blender.

Yeah -- see what I mean? I spend a lot of time in the Great Basins and Ranges - and one thing I've leaned, that most cooks never learn, is that no road doesn't go nowhere -- meaning that every road goes somewhere -- and cooks are the same way --there is no combination of herbs and spices never go nowhere -- and here is a PERFECT example -- but the question still remains IF I were to use nuts -- do you measure them with or without the shells? Though now we have a regional difference -- which might be a village difference or a family difference which one finds in Italian cooking, two villages using exactly the same recipe will come up with two different tasting soups -- and every family will have a soup with a subtle difference -- This may be like the recipe for 'pot roast' or 'ham /lamb hocks/shanks and beans" or "Chicken Cattitorie" there are probably thousands of recipes for each one -- and each one is right!

So -- Hanna -- thanks I MAY have stumbled upon no nuts and binding with the seed oils (I have a prized set of mortars and pistils from about a quarter cup to just under 2 quarts - all hand made and old enough to be PERFECT -- and they sit one inside the other to make a PERFECT stack that can't fall over) -- sometimes the easiest way around a question is to simply eliminate the question!!!!!

But I'm still curious about the nuts, though right now Hanna's sounds a LOT easier since it's all stuff that's around the house all the time anyway -- Thanks for saving me a a trip to the store Hanna! -- pg

pgalioni Feb 28, 2009 10:14 AM

My husband is from Egypt, & I learned to make dukkah from his sister. You have to grind the toasted sesame seeds, cumin & coriander together to bind the mixture with the oil from the sesame seeds. They don't use any sort of nuts in the recipe.

This is because nuts left out of the shell oxidize the oil and it can become rancid -- and most pistachio nuts I have seen are IN the shell, and most hazelnuts I drink. So this gets even more complicated -- and the more I think the more compliated it WILL get -- thanks -- paul

pgalioni Feb 27, 2009 10:26 AM

I'm a conceptual kind of cook -- I read the recipe and close the book and do what I want. It's like being a paramedic, you carry the book in your back pocket, but you do what you have to -- but every now and then you HAVE too look at the book -- so since the only REALLY stupid questions are the unasked one (and, yes, as a teacher there ARE stupid questions that ARE asked, and this maybe one of them) -- you DO remove the nuts from the seeds -- but BEFORE or AFTER you remove them from the shells -- the recipie does not make this clear -- I'd go for asy a quarter cut AFTER you remove them -- more flavor -- so, what's the conversion -- how many quarter cups with the shell equal how many quarter cups without the shell?

Thanks - paul

pgalioni Feb 27, 2009 10:22 AM

Just before the sesame seeds are done, toss in the spices so they benefit from a few moments of toasting.

I live now in Egypt they have Dukkah in the markets I will try to test at tell you then .

I had tasted Dukkah in Australia of all places- it was real YUMMO! A lot of the ethnic foods are becoming mainstream there. I am so glad you posted this recipe. Thank you.