Dukkah: an Egyptian way with nuts and spices

I'd never heard of dukkah, which I know know to be an Egyptian blend of ground nuts and spices. There are endless variations of ingredients, but the usual idea is that you dip some bread in olive oil, then in the dukkah.

You can also use it to jazz up all kinds of things: roasted vegetables, lamb, various beans and pulses, perhaps sprinkled over a hearty soup. It's a nutty, aromatic mixture, not a hot one.

Puy lentils with toasted tomatoes, poached egg and dukkah

Inspired by a recipe in The Telegraph, I made some dukkah and served it with puy lentils and softly-cooked eggs. The original recipe doesn't appear to be online, but you start by halving some tomatoes, rub them with a little harissa, and roast in a medium oven for 45 minutes to an hour. (I know I roasted tomatoes just the other day, but I'm making the most of autumn's last decent tomatoes, and with the help of harissa they are a bit different to my previous garlic-roasted ones.)

Meanwhile you cook the lentils with some finely chopped onion and celery (or a carrot, as I didn't have any celery) plus some thyme and a bay leaf. You can dress cooked lentils with some lemon juice, sherry vinegar and olive oil if you like, though I didn't find this essential.

Put the roasted tomatoes on a bed of lentils with the eggs on top. The recipe suggested you soft-boil some eggs, peel them and roll them in dukkah, but I think soft-boiling eggs is a faff, so I poached them instead and then sprinkled on a good spoonful of dukkah. The result is pretty healthy and has loads of flavour. I've still got some dukkah, too, which I've put in a jar for use over the next few days. The quantities below should leave you with plenty of leftovers, although you can always scale it down if you prefer.

Dukkah recipe

100g/4oz hazelnuts, skins on
75g/3oz sesame seeds
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tsp peppercorns

Optional extras:
1 tsp nigella
1 tbsp dried mint
1 tbsp dried thyme
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp paprika

Heat a dry frying pan and add the hazelnuts. Keep turning for a couple of minutes until they are starting to brown. Place in a mortar and pestle (depending on the size of your mortar, you may have to do them in more than one batch). Add the sesame seeds to the pan, heat until lightly browned. Add them to the mortar, then toast the remaining whole spices and add them too. Add any ground spices and dried herbs, if using. Pound the whole mixture together - it will take a fair amount of elbow grease to achieve a coarse-ground, crumbly mixture. You don't want a powder or a paste.

Eat with bread and olive oil, or add to other dishes as desired.