Dukkah Crusted Tofu

This week I Heart Cooking Clubs is featuring Donna Hay, the award winning food stylist, cookbook author and magazine editor from Australia. I’m putting a flexitarian spin on her dukkah crusted chicken with tahini yogurt by substituting tofu.

What is dukkah?

I had never heard of dukkah before researching this post, but once I learned it’s a popular seasoning blend from Egypt featuring ground nuts, seeds and spices I was all for trying it. If you like sumac and za’atar, you’ll appreciate dukkah. You can purchase dukkah online but if you have a food processor it’s simple to make your own since you can mix and match the ingredients to suit whatever you have on hand.

As mentioned there’s no hard and fast rule for making dukkah, but a little research reveals that most include hazelnuts, pistachios, sesame seeds, whole coriander and cumin. I mixed and matched from Kevin Is Cooking and Healthwise to come up with a blend that we liked. The Kitch’n gives a little more detail in this post.

My spice cabinet is getting a little out of control so I’m glad to use large quantities of some of the contents. I’ll give the proportions I used but I want to emphasize that you can make dukkah to suit your personal taste. If you’re not a fan of coriander, leave it out. If you don’t have almonds on hand, add more pistachios. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed whatever you choose.

Use dukkah with just about any food

After making this recipe, you’ll have leftover dukkah. In addition to crusting various items, you could use it as a dip for veggies or sprinkle it over salads, eggs or steamed veggies. It’s great stirred into plain yogurt, too. You can taste the nuts and seasoning, but my favorite part is the burst of flavor you get when you bite into one of the seeds!

Back to Donna Hay’s recipe, which was my inspiration: I followed her instructions and made dukkah crusted chicken thighs by scoring the meat so the marinade and the heat would penetrate. I cooked them in a super hot oven and they only took 20 minutes to cook. I took a few photos and we ate them.

All of them.

And then I decided I didn’t like any of the photos.

No worries. It’s part of the fun of food blogging cooking, isn’t it? There was plenty of dukkah left, so I just followed the same steps but substituted tofu. Now, I’ve made no secret that I enjoy eating tofu. To me, it was just as good as the chicken. I can see using dukkah to season a variety of foods. Give it a try.

Dukkah Crusted Tofu

Inspired by Donna Hay

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Course: Main

Cuisine: Egyptian, Vegan, vegetarian

Servings: 4 servings

Author: LydiaF

Ingredients

For the Dukkah (Makes about 2 cups)

• 1 cup nuts I used pistachios, hazelnuts and slivered almonds
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• 1 - 2 tablespoons cumin seeds
• 1 - 2 tablespoons coriander seeds
• 1 - 2 tablespoons fennel seeds
• 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon cayenne or chili powder
• salt and pepper to taste

For the marinade

• juice and zest from a lime or small lemon
• 1 clove of garlic crushed
• 2 tablespoons prepared dukkah
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

For the tofu

• 1 large block of firm tofu drained, pressed and sliced into 8 slabs.

For the tahini yogurt

• 6 ounces plain Greek style yogurt
• 1 - 2 tablespoons tahini paste
• squeeze lemon juice
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Make the dukkah first

• Use a large, non stick skillet to pan roast the nuts over medium high heat. It doesn't take long and there's less chance of burning them if you do it on top of the stove. Give the pan a shake every once in a while. You'll smell it when they start to roast.
• Transfer the toasted nuts to a large mixing bowl to cool.
• Use the same skillet and repeat the process with the seeds. As with the nuts, you'll be able to smell it when they begin to toast. You may also hear some crackling. Don't forget to shake the pan to help prevent burning. Set about 1/4 of the toasted seeds aside.
• Add the rest to the toasted nuts in the bowl and stir to mix. Allow to cool.
• Working in batches if necessary, chop the nuts and seeds into small bits with a food processor. Avoid over processing because you'll eventually make nut butter.
• Return to the bowl and stir in the seasoning and reserved seeds. Taste and make adjustments as necessary.
• Store in an air tight container in the fridge for a week or two.

For the dukkah crusted tofu

• While the tofu is being pressed, mix the marinade ingredients in a large shallow bowl or tray.
• Place the tofu slices in the marinade and turn a couple times to coat on all sides. Set aside for at least 20 minutes.
• Mix the ingredients for the tahini flavored yogurt in a small bowl. Keep in the fridge until ready to serve.
• Heat the oven to 450°F/230°C and prepare a baking sheet with a generous amount of oil.
• To crust the tofu, add more dukkah to the same tray you mixed the marinade and press the slabs of tofu into the dukkah. Turn and repeat. You can use your fingers to add more dukkah to any bare spots. Transfer the dukkah crusted tofu to the prepared baking sheet. Repeat for the remaining pieces.
• Bake for 20 minutes or so. Begin checking at 15 minutes. The dukkah should be golden brown. If you want, carefully turn the crusted tofu to even out the color on both sides.
• Serve with the tahini yogurt and more dukkah to add at the table.

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Be sure to drop by I Heart Cooking Clubs to see the other Donna Hay inspired recipes. Feel free to share one of your own if you like.