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RapierFugue -> RE: The myth of 'Free Range' (11/27/2010 9:00:44 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: calamitysandra
Well now, are you going to share that Harissa recipe?
Ye gods, what a palaver that turned out to be! On the neg side it’s taken me about 2 hours to not find a fucking thing written down here (I normally write my recipes up in Word format and store them on my trusty PC, but no joy), but on the pos side I've found my recipe for Nam Prik Pao, so it’s not been a wasted afternoon [:D]
I’ve done some “shadow cooking” – this is where I stand at the cooker like a lemon and pretend I'm putting things into a pretend pan; it’s the only way I can visualise what I've done. Thankfully the (newly washed!) nets are up or the neighbours would have called a loony wagon by now, and I think I've finally cracked it, so here we go ...
First off, a word about the “sorts” of Harissa; some are merely a blending of chillies and a few spices, others are more of a “jam” or “paste”, made as a preserve. This recipe falls into the latter category, so it’s a bit more involved, but worth the effort (I think, you may not agree of course).
Secondly, the chillies; it’s always a nightmare trying to describe which chillies are which because the names vary country by country, so forgive me if I'm a bit “descriptive”. I experimented with several sorts and, although you're after a fiery paste (well I am at any rate), I found the truly mental strength chillies like scotch bonnets weren’t the way forward; loads of heat (good god the heat!) but not flavour, so they're out. In the end I used a blend of small hot, green chillies (which in the UK I would describe as “Asian chillies” because they're used most often in Indian and Chinese cuisine, and milder (but still hot) fatter, longer red chillies. In the batch I liked the best I also had some mild, fat, green chillies as well.
I started with a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipe as a base, but liked some of the other ingredients I read about, so bunged those in as well. Over the course of 4 batches I then “refined” it until it was where I wanted it.
Ok, so to recipe (at last I hear you cry):
250g tomatoes
1 bell pepper/capsicum (red or green, whichever you prefer)
1 large “sweet” chilli (sometimes called sweet peppers?) You know, long, bulbous things, halfway between a chilli and a capsicum
200g hot chillies
50g medium chillies
Couple of fat, mild chillies
1 tsp caraway seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon (you never get “air cinnamon” do you?)
4 fat garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
100g shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
1/2 tsp sea salt
olive oil
1. Skin the tomatoes using boiling water. Halve and bung in a food processor. Get the bell pepper and sweet chilli/pepper and apply heat to char the skins – I usually just chuck them on a hotplate, but some people prefer a grill. Loosely flake off the burnt skins (but leave a little coz it adds flavour), then roughly chop and into the food processor they go.
2. Remove the stalks from the chillies. Roughly chop and into food processor.
3. Put the seed spices in a dry frying pan and toast for a couple of minutes, shaking the pan to make sure they don’t burn. Then grind up using a mortar & pestle (if like me you like a little texture) or if you’d rather it was smooth then grind them in a coffee grinder. Or keep going with the mortar & pestle for a while longer
4. Add everything else except the olive oil into the food processor and blitz until well blended. Tip into a small saucepan and heat until boiling then simmer for about 10-15 minutes until reduced and starting to thicken – a bit like a thin jam consistency. Leave to cool. Pack into warm, sterilised jars (remember to use vinegar-proof lids and sterilise them too), leaving a 1cm gap at the top. Gently pour olive oil over the paste to completely cover it and seal it from air. Seal the jars. Store in the fridge. Hugh says use within 4 months but I think that’s conservative (heh). I reckon with good storage you could store for up to a year, but so far no jar has lasted longer than a few weeks [;)]
Once opened it seems to be fine for about 6 weeks in the fridge – I think germs have a hard time living in anything that is so full of chilli oils [:D]
Enjoy.
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