There’s nothing like adding mixed peel to a dip to keep the festivities going. We’ve used kale, but the same approach works just as well with all the trimmings from Brussels sprouts. The hawaij spice lends the dish a wonderful warmth, but if you can’t get your hands on any, try another warm spice blend, such as Lebanese seven spice or baharat. You can make the dip in advance and top it with the crisp kale when you’re ready to eat. Eat with pitta chips or a crudite such as chicory.
Prep 10 min
Cook 25 min
Serves 6
150g kale, leaves stripped off, stalks discarded (115g)
35g pumpkin seeds
105ml olive oil
1½ tsp hawaij spice, or baharat (made from cumin, coriander, turmeric, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon all in ground spice form)
Fine sea salt and black pepper
80g spring onions, trimmed and roughly chopped
250g Greek-style yoghurt
100g soured cream
45g chopped mixed peel
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
40g picked coriander leaves
20g picked dill leaves
½ tsp urfa chilli flakes
Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6. On a lined baking tray, mix 45g of the kale with the pumpkin seeds, a tablespoon of olive oil, half a teaspoon of the hawaij spice and an eighth of a teaspoon of salt, then roast for eight minutes, until the kale has crisped up and the seeds are toasted. Remove from the oven and set aside.
Put the remaining 70g kale and 50g of the spring onions in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Heat four tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan and, once hot, add the kale and spring onion mixture, season with a half-teaspoon of salt and the remaining teaspoon of hawaij spice and fry, stirring, for five minutes, until the kale mix has softened and the spices smell fragrant. Tip into a bowl, then stir in the yoghurt, soured cream, mixed peel, garlic and a good crack of pepper.
Wipe out the food processor, add the coriander, dill and the remaining 30g spring onions and pulse until finely chopped. Stir this into the yoghurt bowl.
Spoon the yoghurt mixture into a shallow serving dish. Pour the remaining two tablespoons of oil over the top, then scatter over the crisp kale, pumpkin seeds and urfa chilli, and serve.
Recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi, published in The Guardian December 2023