Harissa is a punchy North African condiment, commonly used in Tunisian and Moroccan cuisine. It’s hot, complex, and addictive, just like sriracha. These days, you can buy jars and cans of harissa in most grocery stores, but it’s not quite the same thing as making it fresh at home. I love making my own which is why I wanted to share this recipe and also the video with you. It is rewarding and you can control the heat level and spices.
While there’s no one single way to make harissa as recipes vary from place to place and cook to cook, as well as by country and ethnicity, a standard recipe would include hot peppers, garlic, and various spices. Some use dried red chili pepper while others use fresh chili peppers and some mix dried and fresh.
How Spicy is Harissa?
It all depends on the types of chiles that you use. I love my chili condiments mild without my mouth or tummy burning off. The key to making the flavorful harissa without burning heat is the judicious use of different types of chiles. I made this recipe thinking of my better half, who put hot sauce on everything and eats green chilies with his food so this recipe is moderately hot.
I used Arbol chilies which are on the spicy side. Then I added milder guajillo and ancho chilies for depth and flavor. There are some standard dried chiles as well. I toss them in stir-fries and tempering often, whole or cracked. They are comparatively mild from arbol chilies but do have a kick. I remove most of the seeds from the chilies to bring the heat level down. You can leave them in if you like it super spicy. To prevent the chilies from getting on your hands, it’s a good idea to wear some disposable food gloves when doing this job.
You can also add other ingredients like roasted red bell pepper, tomato paste, caraway seeds, herbs, sun-dried tomato, vinegar, etc. There are lots of options when it comes to harissa paste and you can customize the recipe as you see fit to make it your own.
This recipe makes about 1 1/2 cups of harissa paste to keep in your fridge for around a month. Top it with a thin layer of olive oil. Do not stir the olive oil in. Whenever you scoop out some harissa, top the remaining harissa up with more olive oil to keep the paste covered. You can also freeze them in small containers or ice cube trays, then place the frozen harissa cubes into a freezer bag.
You can mix a little bit of harissa into any dish you want to be a little spicy: pasta, vegetables, eggs, stews, meat or fish, even spread on toast.
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Ingredients
- 3 oz of dried or fresh chilies of your choice (I'm using 2 dried ancho chili, 3 guajillo peppers, 35-40 chilies de arbol, 8 standard chilies)
- 2 roasted red bell peppers
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp. coriander seeds
- 6 garlic cloves, roughly diced
- 2-4 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil plus more to seal
- if you can’t find these specific chilies use whatever hot dried chilies you can find
Instructions
- Break up the chilies into pieces and remove the stems and most of the seeds (Wear gloves to protect your hands.)
- Place them in a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Let stand for 30 minutes, up to one hour.
- While the chiles are soaking, toast the coriander and cumin seeds in a dry skillet over low-medium heat, occasionally shaking or stirring to prevent burning. When the spices are fragrant, remove them from the pan.
- Grind the spices in a mortar and pestle, spice grinder, or coffee grinder.
- Drain the chiles, reserving some liquid for step 8 (if needed)
- Combine the chiles, red bell pepper and garlic, in the bowl of a food processor. (You can also use a mortar and pestle.) Process until everything is chopped and scrape down the sides.
- Add ground spices, salt and lemon juice.
- With the food processor running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil and process to form a thick paste. Scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally. If a thinner paste is desired, blend in a little of the chile soaking liquid until the paste has reached your desired texture.
- Transfer the harissa to a jar and cover the surface with a thin layer of olive oil. Cover the jar and refrigerate for up to a month, adding a fresh layer of olive oil on the top each time you use the harissa. Alternatively, you can freeze harissa in small portions.
angiesrecipes
I love my homemade harrisa too. Sometimes I mixed some fresh chilli peppers too.
Gerlinde
I enjoy making my own sauces. This is a wonderful recipe. I hope to try it soon.
Judee
Chili pastes are way to hot for me, but your homemade Harris sounds like a wonderful recipe and looks delicious.
Pattie
This is something that I generally keep on hand, but I love the idea of making my own. It has to be so much fresher and better tasting. Thanks for this.