Hello, my name is (name withheld for anonymity) and I am a spice addict.

If the same rings true for you, keep this condiment around.  Although it is traditionally used in Moroccan cuisine, it goes well on pizza, salad, pasta, eggs and any other food.

Harissa

4 cloves of garlic

6-8  dried red chilis*

1/2 teaspoon toasted coriander, ground

1/2 teaspoon toasted cumin, ground

1/2 teaspoon orange zest

juice from 1/2 an orange

1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

In a medium saucepan, bring 6 cups of water to a boil.  Blanch the garlic cloves for 1 minute.  Remove cloves and reserve water.  Place the chilis in a bowl and carefully pour the hot water over them.  Let the chilis stand for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, toast and grind the coriander and cumin.  Remove the chilis from the water.  Remove stems from the chilis.  Place chilis, spices, orange zest, juice and vinegar in the bowl of a food processor.  Process to a puree and then slowly drizzle oil in to emulsify.  Place in an airtight container and top with a thin layer of oil.  Store for up to a month in the refrigerator.

*You can use any variety of dried red chilis, depending on your preference for spice.  We like to use dried Thai chilis.

Tags: Condiments, Harissa, Moroccan Food, Spices

This entry was posted on Monday, October 27th, 2008 at 1:28 pm and is filed under Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.