Harissa
The trick to good harissa is to grind it fairly coarsely. A hand-mincer or hand-mill (like the ones used for grinding corn) is the favoured method in Tunisian kitchens, though it's likely more people will use a food processor than they'll admit. Mortar and pestle grinding is inefficient, laborious and worst of all messy
Prep Time 5 minutes mins
soaking time 20 minutes mins
Course condiment
Cuisine Moroccan, north African, Tunisian
- 1 tsp caraway seed
- 2 tsp coriander seed
- 1/2 tsp cumin seed
- 1-2 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp dried mint or 2 tsp of fresh
- lemon jouice to taste
- good glug of high quality olive oil
- 15-20 medium-hot dried chillies Guajillo And Kasmiri are good candidates - bright red and just medium hot
Soak the de-stemmed chillies in hot water for 20 mins
Meanwhile lightly toast the whole spices on a heavy bottomed pan until they release their aroma without browning. Grind them in a mortar and pestle or coffee grinder
Drain the chillies squeezing them to get rid of excess water. You can further dry the chillies with paper ktchen towel
Place all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse, adding oilive to obtain a coarse but soft paste
Keep the harissa in a sealed jar covered with a centimeter of olive oil. Refrigerate and keep for up to a month, topping up the oil as needed