One day when I was sitting at the dining table flicking through this gigantic book, I found the recipe in the margin of the page. I read it out to Mum, who was pottering in the kitchen, and promptly added chillies to shopping list.
Over the years I have made harissa a few times, and each time it has changed, often due to a lack of the actual recipe or the required ingredients. This; combined with my strange love for growing chillies (and rather hot ones) has resulted in my version tending to differ a little each time, though always seems to be, umm... very hot.
To make your own batch you will need:
A bunch of chillies
At least a knob of garlic
A couple of teaspoons each of caraway seeds, cumin seeds and coriander seeds
A few glugs of olive oil, and
A nice amount of salt
I also don’t measure my ingredients very well, but generally use mostly chilli, then garlic; fairly equal quantities of the spices, a fare amount of salt with enough olive oil to make a nice consistency – not to thick, but not soupy.
Place all ingredients in a food processor (or pestle and mortar – for a more rustic blend) and combine well.
Store in sterilised jars in the fridge.
The actual ingredients from The Cooks Companion are:
250 g chillies
1 head of garlic
1 Tbsp ground coriander
1 Tbsp ground caraway seeds
1 Tbsp dried mint
3 Tbsp fresh coriander
1 Tbsp salt
olive oil
Harissa can be added to a bunch of different dishes and cuisines. It is perfect with cheese and crackers; can be added to things such as yogurt or hummus as a dip; or with Tagine, Ratatouille or Ossa Bucco for some kick. Plus, if you are anything like me, it might just start a slight obsession with chillies.
Thank you so much..a lifesaver ..my book is in storage
ReplyDelete