Harissa

Fiery. Intense. Unforgettable.

This Tunisian chilli-paste lends a formidable flavor to soups and stews. You can buy store-bought but why bother when it's so easy to make.

When the paste is fried it will let off an intense smell of chillies which is completely overpowering but the final product will have a complex layered heat that is hard to duplicate.

Traditionally, it was stored under a layer of oil but with modern refrigeration you can just freeze it. The CC always has some in his freezer, and considers it part of his "necessities".

Ingredients

2 oz dried red hot chilli peppers
4 cloves garlic
1 tbsp ground caraway
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp salt
olive oil (preferably extra virgin)

Recipe

Soak the chilli peppers in hot water for at least 30 minutes. Remove them, and add all the ingredients to a food processor, and process adding tablespoons of the same hot water until you get a paste.

You can put it in a jar and cover it with olive oil (or just freeze as mentioned above.)