Magical Harissa

After a long respite from writing - and due to many requests - I'm back with some new recipes!

This next one is a Harissa recipe. Harissa is a paste made of dried sweet and spicy chillis, along with some spices and garlic, that gives a delicious kick to any meal. You can add it to meatballs, chicken, grilled eggplant and tahini, any sandwich...it's an incredible, middle eastern hot sauce.

Every self-respecting falafel shop has their own recipe. But the issue is that this red sauce can sometimes have hidden additions, and in my case, any form of tomato paste can be an issue.

  So - I went out in search for a tomato-free harissa sauce. During my internet research, I came across the recipe from Dan's favorite falafel shop in Tel Aviv - HaKossem (literally translates to "The Magician"). They have incredible food - and sit on King George Street, by Dizengoff center. If you're around - I highly recommend stopping by. They also have gluten free pita!  But the recipe provided makes a kilo and a half of harissa with no preservatives and I don't know about you - but that's a bit much for me...so I made half the amount. 

Things I learned in the process:

1. WEAR GLOVES

2. Even when wearing gloves, make sure you don't have cuts on your arms - as sometimes the peppers spray beyond the gloves and that sh** burns.

3. It is time consuming to clean out seeds from peppers - so make sure you have time.

4. Buy a little more than the amount written of the peppers - some of them are dried and then you find out they were blackened inside,so I ended up throwing some out - so it's good to have extra.

5. Prepare to fall in love with this incredible recipe!!!!! The level of spiciness depends on the ratio of the sweet to the spicy peppers - so you can play around with that once you practice.

Loads of peeled and de-seeded chili peppers

Ingredients:

50 gr dried sweet red pepper (approx. 2 cups) - also known as Shishka Peppers

50 gr dried hot red pepper (approx. 3 cups) - also known as Shata peppers (smaller)

15-18 gr garlic cloves 

3/4 tbsp Caraway Seeds

3/4 tbsp Coriander Seeds

1 tbsp red chili flakes

1 tbsp sweet paprika in oil (you can also do without oil if you can't find with)

1 tbsp salt

1/3 cup 5% vinegar

2 cups oil (vegetable/canola oil)

How to make the best Harissa ever:

1. Put on your latex gloves

2. Cut the dried sweet peppers down the middle with a small, sharp knife, and clean out all the seeds. Do this under water and clean out all the seeds. Place in a big bowl.

2. Put your dried hot peppers in a food processor and pulse until you get big chunks. Move to a strainer and, under water, clean out all the seeds. You may have to use that small knife to cut into the pieces and clean out those extra seeds hiding out. Wash well and add to the bowl with the sweet dried peppers. (Heads up, tears may be involved in this stage). 

3. Once your peppers are all cleaned and set in your bowl, cover them in water and put a plate on top of the peppers, in the bowl, to keep them from floating. Put in the fridge and let soak overnight (or for 12 hours).

4. Strain out the water.

5. Put your peppers, garlic and spices in the food processor and blend everything together. 

6. Add in the vinegar and oil and mix.

7. Enjoy! 

Store it in the fridge in an airtight container. 

The final product - harissa! Look at that red :)

For the original recipe, in Hebrew: https://www.mako.co.il/food-weekend/falafel-hakosem/Article-2ad2cc8f5763351006.htm