Duqqa-An Egyptian Recipe

During one of my bloghopping  blogsurfing days recenctly I came across this blog by Dassana.She has one awesome blog there. Many many interesting recipes with some nutritional facts etc.

One recipe which interested me a lot is the Almond Dukkah recipe posted by her. This took me to wiki to read more about Dukkah and I decided to try it out.

Now what is Duqqa??   (also spelt as Dukkah or dukka) .

I have a fancy for the spelling with the Q and so I am going to use Duqqa :)

Duqqa is an  Egyptian side dish consisting of a mixture of herbs, nuts, probably hazelnut, and spices. It is typically used as a dip with bread or fresh vegetables, and eaten as an hors d'œuvre.The word is derived from the Arabic for "to pound" since the mixture of spices and nuts are pounded together after being dry roasted to a texture that is neither powdered nor paste-like. The actual composition of the spice mix can vary from family to family, vendor to vendor though there are common ingredients, such as sesame, coriander, cumin, salt and pepper. ( want to know more then click here and here.)Source:Wikipedia.

Ingredients I used:

Hazelnuts- 1 cup( can use almonds or pistachios or a combination of both)
White sesame seeds(til)-3/4th cup
Coriander seeds-2 tbspn
Cumin seeds 2 tbspn
Black Pepper corns-1/2 tspn
Fennel seeds(saunf)-1/2 tspn

Roast the hazelnuts on a skillet and then peel off skin from them( can also be done in oven by baking in preheated oven for about 8 minutes.)
Next roast the sesame seeds till they take  alight brown colour.
Roast the rest of the ingredients(I roasted coriander, cumin andthen pepper and fennel together)
Let all these nuts and seeds completely cool down.
Blend them in a food processor.I ground them coarsely.
Store in airtight container.Many websites said they it can be stored in room temperature  but will last longer if refrigerated.

Some more info

As stated in the info about Duqqa many variations are there.But cumin , coriander , pepper and sesame are basic ingredients.
The customary way of eating this dish is by dipping the pita into the olive oil and then into the duqqa
Although it is usually associated with Egypt and other Middle Eastern cultures, it has also proved to be quite popular in Australia and New Zealand.
Nuts are considered to be a good source of protein and for this reason a dish would be a good nourishing plate for anybody, but may be particularly beneficial for a person on a vegan or vegetarian diet.
How to use duqqa?

It may also be scattered on top of vegetable or meat dishes. It may be used as a topping for salads. Some people use the dukkah as a coating which may be added before cooking chicken, meat or fish.
It could also be used as a topping for yoghurt or fruit.

Well i  just pop a spoon into my mouth at times.. i like it plain.. and also with bread .. but instead of teh olive oil.. i used some honey.. sweet tooth.. no escape;)..definitely a keeper!! i love it!!

Recipe Inspiration:Almond Dukkah by Dassana

Sources for other info:Wikipedia and Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/776857