A fiery pepper paste that will surely enhance your dishes – it is spicy, smoky and way better than the store bought ones.
So I was once told by an ex-colleague that I cannot make my own harissa. Well, to my ex-colleague: guess what? I have made my own harissa!
This is one of the things I’ve always wanted to make. Although it may sound very easy, I was still intimidated by the thought of homemade harissa. I got very good comments on the harissa-tahini sauce when I shared the recipe of Potato Hash With Harissa-Tahini Sauce, so I was inspired! Since this is my first homemade harissa, I started with the basic – only having lemon and garlic as the flavor enhancers. Next time, I will explore and add star anise and caraway like what Kellie did and also experiment on other dried chilies like what Elaine did. Truly, they inspired me both to finally make harissa.
The harissa was insanely good – the smell, the taste, the color – everything!! I used the red chilies I have dried and used ancho chilies coz they were the only ones I had… but the result was fantastic that I was running around holding my blender to show off my first homemade harissa. After having that crazy comment that I couldn’t make my own harissa, why wouldn’t I show off? 😀 The harissa I am using from the store is also very good and very convenient, but making your own harissa is even better coz you know what’s in it, right? So why don’t you start making your own now? 😀 It is good for soups, with hummus, tahini and so much more!
I am sharing this with my friends at Fiesta Friday at this week’s amazing Fiesta Friday # 174. I hope you will love this one.
Homemade Harissa
Ingredients:
- 2 dried ancho chilies
- 2 dried red chiies
- 1 cup boiling water
- 300g total of whole red bell peppers
- 2 large cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
- 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Salt, to taste
- 1-2 tbsp olive oil
Instructions:
- In a bowl, add ancho chilies and red chilies. Add boiling water and cover. Leave for 30 minutes, until soften).
- While waiting for the dried chilies to soften, let’s roast the red bell peppers: Wash and dry your whole red bell peppers. Roast them until charred. (I roasted my bell peppers on the stove top, turning them frequently until charred and soft.) Click here to see ways on how to roast bell peppers. When the bell peppers are charred and soft, place them in a bowl and cover. Leave for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, place them on your work surface and peel those peppers away. Also, remove the tops and the seeds. Place in a blender (or food processor) and set aside.
- Going back to the dried chilies: When they are soft, take them out from the water and remove the seeds and cut off the top. Reserve chili water just in case you need them later on. When all seed and tops are removed, place them in a blender along with the roasted and peeled red bell peppers, garlic, lemon juice and 1 tbsp olive oil.
- Keep the blender running until you get the desired consistency. You can add from the reserved chili water, if necessary and/or add another tbsp of olive oil and lemon juice. Add salt to taste.
- Keep inside the fridge in a sterilized jar.
Notes:
This recipe makes about 1 1/4 cups of harissa.
This lasted for 2 weeks inside my fridge.
Source recipe: Homemade Harissa by Half Baked Harvest
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