Dukkah and Rosemary Oil

Fresh bread that has been dunked into a bowl of olive oil and dukkah is my kind of comfort food. I can have tonnes of it, and I often already get half filled up before the actually meal has even started.


I used to buy dukkah from shops, until a friend persuaded me into making my own ones. I did and they are ridiculously easy and don't cost much to make.

For 200g of dukkah, you will need:

1/4 cup sesame seeds (40g)
1 cup (130g) hazelnut , toasted and skin off
1 tsp of fennel seeds salt (you can replace this with fennel seeds and salt)
2 tbsp (14g) cumin , toasted - again I use the ground ones
2 tbsp (14g) coriander seeds, toasted - I sometimes use grounded ones when  I'm lazy
 
Spices that are in their original form are supposed to have more flavour and aroma than grounded ones, but I was in a hurry so I use grounded one instead.

Toast your seeds: Place both the sesame seeds and hazelnuts on two separate baking trays. Place both trays in a preheated 160°C oven. Sesame seeds should take no more than 5 mins to turn golden brown in colour and hazelnuts take around 7-8 minutes. Once you have removed the hazelnut from the oven, rub the nuts between a tea towel to remove their skins. Continue doing so until they are all removed and then let them cool down.

Toast your spices: You can either toast them whole or grounded. If you are using the whole ones, you have to grind them finely after toasting. Toast your spices on a skillet over a medium heat and shake the pan constantly to create an even cooking temperature. Remove from heat immediately once it starts smoking. Remember it will still continue to cook even after that, so keep an eye on it. Set aside.

Place toasted hazelnuts into a electric mixer to grind them to the right size . The ideal size for chopped hazelnuts is that they are the same size as  a grain of rice or couscous pieces . They  need to large enough to create a crunch or texture in your dukkah.

Stir in the whole toasted sesame seeds, the ground  hazelnuts and the spices together. Place the dukkah in  air tight containers. This will last for at least 3-4 months.

Rosemary Oil

For around 250ml of rosemary oil, you will need:

260ml olive oil
4 springs of rosemary 

1 spring of rosemary for garnish

3 dry bay leaves

5 – 10 black peppercorns

Wash and dry your rosemary. Simply heat the oil until  you can see a little movement inside the oil. Remove from the heat and add in your rosemary. Let it steep until the oil gets cold. Sterilise your container and place the peppercorns, bay leaves and rosemary into the bottle. Pour the rosemary oil into the container and seal.