Dukkah Spice Blend

Who knew all these different spices would be good together?  The people of Egypt knew. Although the actual mix of spices and nuts can vary from family to family, the common basics are sesame, cumin, coriander, and salt.  This can be made nut-free by using pumpkin or sunflower seeds in place of the almonds. 

My first time learning about this awesome stuff was when I saw a small jar of it at Trader Joe’s. I bought it and took it home and sprinkled it on my avocado toast. Wow! I fell in love. I started putting it on every savory food I had and I went through it way too fast. Luckily, I have a Trader Joe’s nearby and I just bought it whenever I was running out. Then one day I was shocked to see it missing from the shelf at the store and the management told me they didn’t know when or if it would be back. 

I went home and got out my almost empty jar and looked at the ingredient list and started pulling spices out of my spice cabinet. It took a few tries to get the ratio right, but I did and now I make it in large quantities and refill my original store-bought a container. 

And now, you can make some for yourself and share with friends!

Gather your ingredients together and get your food processor ready to go.  

A mortar and pestle are nice, but not absolutely necessary. I like the hands-on feel and smell of crushing the seeds this way.   If you have one, use it to crush the fennel and anise seeds a bit. If using whole coriander seeds, add them to the mix too. In the picture, I used ground coriander because that is what I had. 

Start with the almonds in the food processor and pulse repeatedly until the almonds are not much bigger than the size of a grain of rice. Add the seeds from the mortar and pestle to the almonds in the food processor and pulse until well mixed. Add salt to taste. 

If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, start with the seeds in the food processor and pulse several times to break them up a little. Then add the almonds and pulse them until they are rice-sized bits. Add salt to taste. I used about 1 tablespoon of pink Himalayan sea salt. 

Store in an airtight jar in the refrigerator. If you have a small container that you are going to use often, it can stay out on the counter, but keep in mind that nuts and seeds can go rancid if left out of refrigeration for long periods of time. I keep my nuts and seeds in the fridge for this reason.  

Do try this on avocado toast and let me know what you think. Do you love it? 

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Dukkah Spice Blend

With flavors from the Middle East, this Dukkah Spice Blend is so good on pasta, salads and my favorite...avocado toast! It makes a great gift as well. 

Course: Condiment

Cuisine: Middle Eastern

Ingredients

• 2 cups almonds
• 1/2 cup sesame seeds
• 3 tbsp fennel seeds
• 1 tbsp anise seeds
• 3 tbsp coriander seeds or 2 T ground coriander
• 0-1 tbsp sea salt

Instructions

1. If using a mortar and pestle for the initial crushing of the seeds, add them all to the mortar and pestle and crush them together until fragrant. Not all seeds need to be crushed at this point. 

2. If NOT using a mortar and pestle for crushing the seeds, add them to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse several times until some of the seeds are broken up a bit. It's not necessary to grind them to a powder. 

3. If you have chosen to use a mortar and pestle for the crushing, add the almonds to the empty food processor and pulse several times until the almond pieces are not much larger than a grain of rice. 

4. Add the seeds from the mortar to the almonds and pulse several times until everything is well mixed. 

5. If you've started with the seeds in the food processor, add the almonds in and pulse until the almonds are not much larger than a piece of rice and are well mixed with the seeds. 

6. If using, add the salt and pulse until well mixed. 

7. Place mixture in airtight jars and store at room temp for a few days or indefinitely in the refrigerator. 

Recipe Notes

To make this nut free, try using pumpkin or sunflower seeds instead of almonds.