HARISSA PASTE

Servings: 1 cup

Ingredients

2 red peppers
3 garlic cloves, peeled
8 dried red chillies (see notes)
3 teaspoons coriander seeds
1 ½ teaspoons cumin seeds
1 tablespoon tomato paste/powder (optional but recommended)
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil (plus more to top)
Salt, to taste

Instructions

Soak dried red chillies in hot water for 10 mins. Slit them open lengthways and remove the seeds.
Add coriander seeds and cumin seeds to a small pan. Roast them over a medium heat until they start to lightly brown. (If using ready-ground powders, skip this step and use 3 teaspoons of coriander powder + 1 ½ teaspoons of cumin powder.)
Flame-roast the red peppers until charred and blistered on all sides. Make sure to get the tops and bottoms too. The more blackened they are the better the smokiness of the paste, so take your time to keep rotating and charring. Use tongs for this.
(Note: if you don’t own a gas hob, place the peppers in a preheated 200 C oven and roast for 15-20 mins.)
Place the blistered peppers in a bowl and cover and steam for 5 mins. This will make removing their skins a lot easier.
Gently flake away the skins and discard the seeds and inner membrane. Add the peppers to a blender/food processor. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend to a paste. Keep the consistency as smooth or as chunky as you'd like. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Decant into a bottle and refrigerate until ready to use. It will keep refrigerated for up to 3 days. If you want to store the paste for longer, top with a thin layer of olive oil and keep refrigerated for up to 10 days. Alternatively, it can be frozen for up to 3 months.

Notes

Use any variety of dried chilli available to you. You will need to adjust spice levels accordingly. If you find that the paste is not hot enough, add a bit of chilli powder whilst blending.

If you don’t have whole coriander and cumin seeds, skip the dry-roasting step and use 3 teaspoons of coriander powder + 1 ½ teaspoons of cumin powder.