A native-Australian dukkah — buttery macadamias (the one Indigenous crop gone global) toasted with sunflower seeds, cumin, and a little wattleseed, then coarsely crushed into a nutty, aromatic dry dip for bread and oil, or a crust for fish and kangaroo.
Macadamia is the rare Indigenous Australian crop to be domesticated and grown worldwide, native to the rainforests of Queensland and long gathered by Aboriginal peoples. Toasted and crushed with seeds and spice, it makes a distinctly Australian dukkah.
Dip bread in oil then dukkah and it clings in a nutty, crunchy, aromatic coating — buttery macadamia, toasty seeds, warm cumin, and the coffee-nutty wattleseed. Bite: rich and crunchy, deeply nutty with a fragrant spice warmth, savoury and moreish. A native-Australian take on the Middle-Eastern classic, built on the continent's signature nut.
Toasting develops the nuts' and seeds' oils and aroma; crushing coarsely (not grinding to paste) keeps the crunchy, dry texture that defines dukkah. The buttery macadamia replaces the usual hazelnut and the wattleseed adds a native roasted note — a dry condiment that clings to oiled bread or crusts a fillet.
Variations
With hazelnut (classic). Spicier. With sesame. With native pepperberry. As a fish crust. With dried herbs.
On the Palate
Where Macadamia Dukkah sits in the Aboriginal Australian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 10How it's made
7 steps · 20 min active + 5 min waiting
- 16 min
Toast macadamias in a dry pan until golden and fragrant; cool.
Watch outToast the macadamias just to pale gold and nutty-fragrant — they're oily and tip from golden to burnt in seconds, turning the whole dukkah bitter.
- 24 min
Toast sunflower seeds and cumin seeds briefly until aromatic.
- 31 min
Add a little ground wattleseed off the heat.
- 45 min
Coarsely crush everything together with salt (a mortar or quick pulse).
Watch outCrush only to a coarse, crumbly rubble — grind too far and the nut oils turn it into a paste, losing the dry crunch that makes dukkah.
- 52 min
Keep it dry and chunky, not a paste.
- 62 min
Store in a jar.
- 72 min
Serve as a dip with bread and olive oil, or as a crust.
