Rumi Carrots with Dukkah and Tahini

I have been out of the habit of doing any so-called reviews lately but I did go to Rumi last week and have an amazing meal with my parents and E. We were as impressed as on our previous visit.

I forgot my camera and it was too crowded to have felt comfortable taking photos, but I was so impressed with one dish that I made an attempt to recreate it tonight. Do you know the scene where you sit in a restaurant oohing and aahing over a dish and ruminating on how they made it? That was my mum and me. We were pondering the simple but inspired dish of carrots with dukkah and tahini.

The carrots weren’t the only wonder of the night. In fact everything was just incredibly delicious – the food, the service, the elegant tableware. It could have been a little quieter but you can’t resent so many others enjoying a place when the food is so good. We had cheese cigars which were the small crisp batons that I had expected my recent attempt to be. There was also spiced roasted cauliflower with sultanas and pine nuts; pumpkin and spinach with crisp shards of pita bread; and pomegranate juice. For dessert we shared ice-cream that excited everyone but me, Persian fairy floss that looked like a pile of dust but tasted excellent, and a wonderful pastry dish with caramelised banana and some creamy sauce with pieces of halva. No wonder my dad was able to cope without his pancakes for Shrove Tuesday!

I’m sorry not to do Rumi justice with these brief notes, but it did inspire me to rethink roasting carrots. I roasted carrots recently and they were ok but a little tough. At Rumi the carrots were soft and melting as roast vegetables should be. So I decided I needed to revise my approach. Sometimes I parboil potatoes before roasting so I did this for the carrots tonight. What I did is barely a recipe but the carrots tasted good enough to blog!

Rumi Carrots with Dukkah and Tahini
Serves 2

Peel a couple of carrots and cut into batons. Boil for 2-3 minutes and drain. Toss in some olive oil and salt and pepper and roast for about 30-45 minutes til soft and starting to darken at the edges. Dust the roasted carrots with dukkah and drizzle with a light tahini sauce.

My sauce was 1 tbsp tahini, 2 tbsp yoghurt and a squeeze of lime juice but it was too thick and too much so next time I might just try a bit of tahini and lemon juice without the yoghurt. Nevertheless these carrots were much much better than my usual roast carrots.

On the Stereo:
Hergest Ridge: Mike Oldfield