Dukkah, Duqqa (goose)

Actually, I think it's pronounced doo'-kuh but that doesn't fit with my bad pun.
Dukkah has become one of my favorite snacks/condiments. I was sort of surprised to find there aren't many references to it on LTH (this may be one, too--d4v3?) About a year ago, I bought a pack of this mixture at City Olive and decided it would be pretty simple to make. So, I googled it and found that it's an Egyptian mixture of toasted spices and nuts served as a dip for bread or as a side dish. There are lots of recipes online and it's dead easy to make--you just toast spices and nuts, then grind 'em up. I've found recipes with all different combinations of ingredients but generally hazelnuts, almonds and/or pistaschios, coriander seeds, cumin seeds and salt are included. I've also seen dried onion/garlic, dried mint, thyme, black peppercorns, sesame seeds, etc. added. It makes a great appetizer with some crusted bread and good olive oil (makes the bread stick to the dukkah).
Here are some pics from a recent batch (coriander, cumin, black pepper, pistachios, almonds, sesame seeds, salt and some durkee fried onions I had leftover because, hey, why not).

Nut mixture



Spice mixture


Finished product

thaiobsessed wrote:...and some durkee fried onions I had leftover

Sorry, not believing it. There's no such thing.

JoelF wrote:Sorry, not believing it. There's no such thing.

Leftover Durkee fried onions? Hard for me to believe as well.

Aaron Deacon, now of Kansas City, brought home made pita, wonderful olive oil and his version of Dukkah to a party 4-5 years ago. I had never heard of dukkah, one bite and I was hooked. I probably made it a dozen time in a 3-month period, experimenting then settling on Claudia Roden's recipe from "The New Book of Middle Eastern Food"

I have not made dukkah in a few years, seems a natural now for the weekend. Not sure about Durkee fried onions though.

Thaiobsessed, thanks for the reminder of a forgotten favorite. If you, or anyone else, would like Roden's Dukkah recipe just PM, its copyrighted and, as I have not adapted the recipe in any way, I don't want to post it to the board.

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:I probably made it a dozen time in a 3-month period, experimenting then settling on Claudia Roden's recipe from "The New Book of Middle Eastern Food"

I feel sort of silly--I have that book and I was just looking through it to get savory pie ideas for Pi day and I didn't even think to look up her dukkah recipe.

And trust me, the Durkees add a little je ne sais quoi.
Maybe I should send Cladia Roden a letter with my brilliant addition...

This is great information - I had never heard of Duqqa (دقة) until reading about it on LTH. I lived in Egypt for some time but never came across it. I have a feeling that I ate it without knowing, as it appears to be used as a garnish more than anything.

What struck me as distinctly not Egyptian (but delicious sounding nonetheless) was using Duqqa in a similar manner to Levantine Za'atar - as a dip with bread and olive oil. There is no olive oil in Egypt. Well there is, but no one, other than the few who can afford it, actually eats it.

After doing some googling in Arabic (love the modern world) I came across some mentions of Egyptian Duqqa and its uses. None of them mention olive oil, but do say that it should be sprinkled on ful, roasted potatoes or even mixed into falafel (pre-frying). That sounds a whole lot more Egyptian to me.

Using it with olive oil is a great idea, but probably one that didn't originate in Egypt's olive oil-meager kitchens. It does however sound like a great and refreshing alternative to Za'atar. And it doesn't probably wouldn't be too bad sprinkled on roasted vegetables either.

Oh, and the recipes described in this thread all seem to be analogous to what I found online in Arabic. So if random internet information (in Arabic) is a measure of authenticity for any of you out there, LTH got Duqqa right.

Thanks for the info, Habibi.
I think I got the olive oil idea from City Olive (either that, or because I got it an olive oil store it seemed logical). I'll have to try it on roast potatoes. It's also great for crusting meat.

Interesting thread. My sole Egyptian cookbook (Samia Abdennour's "Egyptian Cooking" published by the American University in Cairo Press) calls for what I find an intriguing mixture:

1 measure salt
1 measure roasted coriander seeds
1 measure peanuts
1/2 measure split chickpeas
1/2 measure dried mint
1/2 measure sesame seeds

all of which get whizzed in a blender. I know what I'm making this weekend!

Sorry, this has nothing to do with the post really, but I've seen it before and I'm curious—how are people posting in Arabic?

Simple. There are actually several ways but the easiest is probably cut and paste. Find something online, cut and paste it directly to the composition box for LTH.

Made some duqqa this morning to complement some pan fried (in olive oil) sheep milk cheese I brought back from Palestine (more on that later).

I've never made it before, but it was dead simple and was an excellent match for bread, cheese and olive oil. The recipe basically came out of my head and I make no claims as to authenticity, but I was very satisfied with it. My feeling is that duqqa is whatever you make of it.

Here goes:

Almonds, skinless
tablespoon coriander seeds
tablespoon baharat (Middle Eastern spice mixture)
tablespoon sumac
sprinkle cumin, ground.
salt to taste

I didn't use many almonds for this preparation - maybe a 1/4-1/3 of a cup, so if you are going to use more nuts, amp up the spices. And don't be shy.

I toasted the almonds and coriander until golden brown then whizzed everything in the food processor. Really really good stuff.