Harissa Paste

Total Time: 15 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins

Ingredients

• 2 ounces mildly hot dried chilies (eg guajillo)
• 2 ounces mild dried chilies (eg anaheim)
• 5 cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground caraway seed
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground coriander seed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• extra virgin olive oil, for topping off

Recipe

• 1 soak the dried chillis in tepid water to cover until softened, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• 2 drain and remove the stems and seeds.
• 3 place in a blender or food processor with the garlic, water, and olive oil and process until smooth, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides.
• 4 transfer the mixture to a small bowl and stir in the caraway, coriander, and salt.
• 5 store in a jar and top off, covering the surface of the paste with a layer of olive oil.
• 6 whenever the paste is used you must always top off with olive oil making sure no paste is exposed to air otherwise it will spoil.
• 7 variation: to make a hot harisa, use 4 ounces dried guajillo chillis and 1/ 2 ounce dried de arbol chillis.
• 8 note: to make salsa al-harisa, that is, harisa sauce, used as an accompaniment to grilled meats, stir together 2 teaspoons harisa, 3 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons water and 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley leaves.