A couple of weeks ago, I bought a small jar of black onion seeds with the plan of using it in and sprinkled on a home-made loaf of onion bread. Little did I know that onion seeds aren’t actually… onion seeds! I tasted a pinch expecting a blast of onion flavour, it had a slight onion/black pepper/earthy taste, not altogether unpleasant though.
When I looked it up, black onion seeds are actually nigella seeds; they’re also commonly known as black cumin or kalonji. Love in a Mist, which grows on our allotment, is a very close relation. I wonder whether it’s seeds are also edible.
Anyhow, since my onion loaf idea was scuppered (at least for the time being) I looked into what I could make using my black onion seeds. That’s when I came across daktyla, a Greek/Cypriot/Turkish rustic bread.
The seeds are mixed with sesame seeds both in and atop a sort of tear-and-share loaf made up of rows of dough. Δάχτυλα, (daktyla in Greek) means ‘fingers’.
I just happened to have a large bag of black sesame seeds that I bought in a Chinese supermarket, so I already had all the necessary ingredients in stock.
There was quite a lot of proofing time involved – an hour for the sponge, 90 minutes for the first proof, another 90 for the second – but it meant that I could get on and do other things in between time.
It was delicious with baba ganoush and salad. I imagine it would go down well with hummus, feta and Anari cheeses, olives and cured meats.
Click here to save this daktyla recipe to Pinterest for later!
Daktyla
Ingredients
For the sponge
- 130 g/4½oz strong white bread flour
- 70 g/2½oz cornmeal/polenta
- 7 g/¼oz instant yeast
- 300 ml/10½ fl oz warm water
For the dough
- 240 g/8½oz strong white bread flour
- 1½ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 30 g/1oz toasted sesame seeds + 1tbsp to sprinkle over the loaf
- 1 tbsp nigella seeds + 1tsp to sprinkle over the loaf
Instructions
For the sponge
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the strong white bread flour, cornmeal, yeast and warm water making sure there are no lumps (A Danish dough whisk is perfect for this job). Allow the mixture rest for an hour, or until it's foamy and full of bubbles
For the dough
- Combine the remaining ingredients into the sponge and knead - by hand, mixer, food processor or bread machine - to form a soft, supple dough, adding a small amount of extra water or flour as needed
- Place the dough in a greased bowl, and cover it with a proof cover or cling film. Allow it to rise for 1½ hours, or until almost doubled in size
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured or greased work surface and divide the dough into 8 pieces. Round each piece into a ball, then shape each into a baton about 10cm/4-in in length
- Grease or line with parchment, a 46 x 33cm / 18 x 13-in baking sheet
- Place the ovals of dough side by side (long sides almost touching each other) on the sheet, leaving about 2½cm/1-in between each; they'll fill the pan end to end
- Cover the baking sheet and allow the dough rise in a warm place for 1 hour, or until it's expanded enough so that the ovals are touching each other
- Brush the top of the dough very lightly with water (or spray it gently), and sprinkle with a mixture of toasted sesame seeds and nigella seeds
- Bake in a preheated oven at 190ºC/375°F/Gas mark for 25-30 minutes, until it's golden brown
- Allow to cool completely on a wire rack
