By Hetty McKinnon
It is so satisfying to make a batch of dukkah. So expensive to buy, but so simple to make at home, I always have some on hand to top roasted vegetables, salads, or even sandwiches. This coconut dukkah was the result of a little kitchen experiment when I was craving coconut. It adds a tropical, South-East Asian feel to the salad. This recipe makes a generous amount of coconut dukkah, more than you will need for one meal—keep extra in the pantry or give it as a gift (if you don’t want extra, simply halve the recipe).
Ingredients
Serves 4-6
1 red onion, finely sliced
4-5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
10 carrots (about 3 ½ lb), sliced diagonally
1 ½ cups dried mung beans
½ cup green beans, trimmed
½ cup cilantro leaves
¼ cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
3 tablespoons finely sliced green onion
Juice of ½ lemon
Sea salt and black pepper
Coconut Dukkah; makes one cup:
4 white peppercorns
2 tablespoons coriander seeds
2 tablespoons cumin seeds
½ cup almonds or shelled pistachios, toasted
½ cup desiccated coconut, toasted
2 tablespoons white sesame seeds, toasted
1 tablespoon black sesame seeds
1 tablespoon nigella seeds
1 teaspoon salt
Substitute
Desiccated coconut: fresh coconut
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 400?F (200?C).
To make the coconut dukkah, place a frying pan over medium heat and toast the peppercorns and the coriander and cumin seeds until fragrant and popping, about 60 seconds. Add to a mortar and pound with a pestle to a coarse powder, then add the nuts and pound again until chunky. Mix through the coconut, sesame seeds, nigella seeds, and salt.
Coat the red onion slices in 2 teaspoons of olive oil and set aside. Place the carrots on a large baking tray, coat in 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and place in the oven to roast. After 20 minutes, add the sliced red onion to the baking tray and roast for a further 10 minutes or until the carrots and onion are both tender and golden.
Bring a saucepan of salted water to a boil, add the mung beans and simmer for 25-30 minutes until tender. Drain.
In a large frying pan, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and fry the green beans until just tender and starting to color. Remove from the pan.
Combine the carrots, mung beans, green beans, herbs, a drizzle of olive oil, and a good squeeze of lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Scatter over the coconut dukkah and serve.
Recipe reprinted by permission from Neighborhood by Hetty McKinnon © 2016 by Hetty McKinnon. Photography © 2016 by Luisa Brimble. Reprinted in arrangement with Roost Books, an imprint of Shambhala Publications, Inc. Boulder, CO
