Hard-Boiled Eggs with Homemade Dukkah

📝 Ingredients

• 4 eggs (medium, about 55 g each without the shell)
• 15 g sunflower seeds (about 1 ½ tbsp)
• 15 g sesame seeds (about 2 tbsp)
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• ¼ tsp fine salt
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 large bowl of cold water + 1 handful of ice cubes (for the ice bath)
• Black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Saucepan
• Small frying pan
• Pestle and mortar
• Large bowl
• Timer

📖 Steps

1. Take the eggs out of the fridge 10 minutes beforehand if possible: a very cold egg plunged into boiling water may crack. Bring a pan of water to the boil, with enough water to cover the eggs by 2 cm.
2. Lower the eggs into the boiling water one at a time with a spoon, reduce to a medium heat to keep a steady simmer and start the timer: exactly 9 minutes for a yolk that's set but still tender, with no greenish ring.
3. Meanwhile, make the ice bath in the large bowl with the cold water and ice cubes. As soon as the timer goes off, transfer the eggs to it and leave them for at least 5 minutes: the cooking stops instantly and the shell comes off much more easily.
4. While the eggs cool, heat a small dry frying pan over a medium heat. Toast the sunflower seeds for 2 minutes, then add the sesame seeds and cumin and stir constantly for 2 to 3 minutes, until the sesame is golden and smells toasty.
5. Add the ground coriander off the heat, stir for 20 seconds, then immediately tip the mixture into the mortar: left in the hot pan, the sesame would keep browning and turn bitter. Leave to cool for 2 minutes.
6. Roughly crush with the pestle together with the salt and a few turns of pepper, or with 2 or 3 short pulses in a food processor. Keep some crunch: you're after a coarse, crumbly powder, not a paste.
7. Peel the eggs: tap the shell on the work surface to crack it all over, then peel it off under a trickle of cold water, starting from the wider end, where the air pocket is. Dry the eggs and cut them in half lengthways.
8. Lightly brush the cut side of each egg half with olive oil using your fingertip, then dip it in the dukkah, pressing gently so it sticks. Serve straight away, with the rest of the dukkah on the side for more.