Harissa is a red pepper, chilli and coriander sauce that will forever be associated with the cuisine of North Africa, especially the Maghreb. The flavour is built around roasted red peppers, Baklouti peppers (بقلوطي) and a host of spices and herbs which include cumin, coriander, caraway and garlic. The heat comes from chilli which arrived with the Spanish who brought it over from South America from the mid-1500s. Tunisia produces large quantities of this paste and is acknowledge by UNESCO as part of their Intangible Cultural Heritage. It is has also crossed into Moroccan cuisine too but is not as pronounced.
Whilst it is easy to find a jar of harissa paste there is always the joy of producing your own. Many of the harissa pastes also incorporate the flavour of rose petals which is why you will find on the grocery shelves versions known as rose harissa.
We have a couple of recipes that use harissa paste. It is exceptional in spicing up chicken which can be dry and bland if flavour isn’t part of the mix. It works well with fish such as salmon. Likewise, where would falafels be if there wasn’t a strong pungent sauce to bring out the taste of the chickpeas.
A number of chefs have their own version but this one is ideal. The great fish restauranteur and chef, Rick Stein produces a very effective version for his concerns but a study of the ingredients found on many bought products also indicates what other spices need to be added. We’ve tried adjusting the chilli but to be honest about it, it needs an extensive kick of heat to truly bring out the flavour. You can buy dried rose petals to make rose harissa but we have also tested out rose petals in season and they bring a slight perfumed lift.
Ingredients:
- 3-4 red peppers, deseeded, roasted and skinned
- 2 cloves garlic
- a quarter segment of an onion – chopped finely (optional)
- 12-15 red/green small chillies -do not remove seeds. Reduce the number of chillis the bigger they become otherwise it almost becomes a chilli paste alone.
- 1 tablespoon/15 ml tomato puree
- 1 tablespoon/15 ml ground coriander
- 1 tablespoon/15 ml ground cumin (optional)
- 1 teaspoon/5ml saffron – needs to be ground in a pestle and mortar to a powder. There are some suppliers of powdered saffron out there.
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon/5ml of cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
- 10 -20 rose petals ( for a rose harissa).
Preparation:
Place the ingredients in a blender and mix thoroughly.
It should last for a couple of months if stored in an air-tight jar in the fridge.
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